How Deep is Your Love
by myboygeorge
Summary: When Beckett's latest case involves someone from Shane Weaver's past, she learns just how deep the doctor's love of her daughter goes.  Set 3 months after end of 'Lost and Found'.  M for obvious reasons, Crumbsian naturally.
1. A Bombshell

Alexis awoke in the middle of the night beside Shane with a horrible pain in her belly, the worst cramps she'd ever experience in her life. She reached down between her thighs, and when she felt the wet stickiness there, she groaned. Having your period was brutal enough but bleeding like this was even worse. Sitting up with an impatient, painful groan, she turned on the lamp.

And froze.

The bed sheets were ruined with blood, the sight of which had Alexis going right into a panic. She balled her hand into a fist and pounded Shane's shoulder.

'Shane, get up,' she said in a rushed voice. 'Get up now.'

'What is it, Lex, you see a roach?'

'I'm bleeding, like really badly.'

In an instant, he was awake despite an eighteen hour shift and flipping on the lights. He eyes popped in sheer terror at the sight of their bed - Alexis' side was drenched red and she was sitting there looking at the mess, terrified.

'I'm calling nine-one-one.'

Alexis was too stunned to do anything but nod; the next action she registered was a lovely Persian woman shining a light in her eyes.

'Alexis, do you remember me? It's Jayla.'

'Dave's partner,' she said blandly, then blinked at her, tried to clear the fog from her brain. 'What is going on?'

'Alexis, I need you to lie back, honey.' Now it was Dave's voice she heard and remembering what he did for a living she felt a punch in the stomach.

'Dave...'

'It's okay, honey, just try to relax.'

She answered his questions as they gave her the once over and despite her protests, Shane insisted she go in for an exam. He held her hand the entire time down to the ambulance.

* * *

><p>Once in the ER at Saint Vincent's, Shane was asked to wait in the lounge for emergent cases until someone had something to tell him. He paced the floor in a short walk, hoping the sick feeling in his gut was wrong but the fact they'd sent Dave and Jayla told him he was horribly, horribly right. The notion of it made his head spin as questions fought each other for space in his brain as the sickness threatened to take over.<p>

He stopped pacing when one of the doctors came in, his face solemn.

'Shane Weaver?'

'Yeah, that's me.'

'I'm Doctor Walsh, I am attending to your fiancee. She's asking for you.'

'Is she okay?'

Walsh didn't answer him, just took him into the room where Alexis lay in the hospital bed, pale as chalk and eyes wide and staring. The cloudy blue focused on him when he entered the room, and Shane went right over to give her a supportive, reassuring kiss.

'Shane,' she murmured.

'I'm here, baby, I'm here.'

'I'm terribly sorry to tell you this,' the doctor said gently, 'but Alexis has suffed a miscarriage.'

Shane's shoulders slumped at the doctor's words, the feelign in his gut spreading through his entire body. He bent to press his forehead against Alexis' and wasn't surprised when he heard her begin to cry softly.

'I'm so sorry.'

'It's okay, Lex, it's not your fault.'

'I'm...I didn't even know I was pregnant. I just thought I was late because of stress.'

'You wouldn't have known anyways yet,' the doctor told her. 'The embryo was barely three weeks old and simply didn't survive. That is no reflection on either your or Alexis' fertility, it was just bad luck.'

'Will you need to keep me here over night?' Alexis asked in a small voice.

'Yes, we want to give you some meds for the blood loss along with a small transfusion.'

'Okay.'

The door opened and a caramel-skinned woman in a day's-activity worn suit stepped in with a leather-bound file folder. 'Doctor Walsh?'

'Good evening Miz Cooper. This is Doctor Shane Weaver and his fiancee Alexis Castle.'

'What is going on?' Shane asked, fingers tight on Alexis' still-shaking hand.

'It's standard protocol that all women in this hospital who come into the ER with a miscarriage and their partner be asked some questions. Separate from their spouses.'

The implication of it had lights bursting in front of Shane's eyes. 'You think I had something to do with this? You think I beat her and put her there? You heard her, she didn't even know she was pregnant.'

'As I said, it's standard protocol. Shane, if you could step into the room across the hallway with me?'

Pride and righteousness propelled him forward, and once alone with the social worker Shane sat straight-backed in the chair. Cooper opened her folder, pulled out her pen.

'Can you walk me through the events of this evening?'

'I was working the swing shift, I'm a pathologist with the OCME,' he explained, 'and Alexis and I met some friends after my shift at a diner for a bite to eat, then we saw a movie and arrived home around eleven. Here.'

Shane reached for his wallet, produced the credit-card receipts from the restaurant and the theatre. 'We got home just after midnight, and I was in the mood to make love with her but she said she was feeling crampy and bloated and was expecting to get her period within the next forty-eight hours so I backed off and we fell asleep. The next thing I know, she's waking me up and telling me she's bleeding.'

'Had she ever been late for her period before?'

'Yes. She's a first-year medical student at Princeton, stress is inherent in her daily life and this was the third time since January she's been feeling off in regards to her monthly cycle.'

'Was there any possibility she could have been pregnant those other times?'

'There's always the possibility when you engage in any kind of intercourse,' Shane countered evenly, 'but as it happens, she's been on the hormone needle since before we started dating nearly two years ago, and I can count on one hand the number of times we haven't used a condom. We take our responsibility to each other very seriously and if Alexis even suspected it for a fleeting moment, she would tell me.'

Cooper nodded, made notes. 'There is quite a significant age gap between you and your fiancee, isn't there?'

'Fifteen years. She just turned twenty-four in May and I'll be thirty-nine at the end of November. The whole reason we met was a mutual friend of ours thought I might be able to give her some good advice on being a medical student at Princeton, as that's where I went to medical school, and we hit it off.' Shane fought the sigh, and tried to treat it like he was giving testimony on one of his cases. 'Neither of us expected to have such a strong mutual attraction, as she was returning to complete her final year at Cambridge about a month after we began dating, and much of our first year together was spent apart with her in England. The last thing I'm going to do is lay a hand on her, unless it's to touch her so that we can make love.'

'Right.'

'Miss Cooper, I love my fiancee very very much and I would never, _ever_ do anything to put her health, mental or physical, in jeopardy. We have enough outside stressors to deal with, like the long-distance thing, the nay-sayers who think I just want a pretty piece of ass, even my Jewish mother trying to handle the fact her only son is engaged to a gentile.'

'You sound earnest enough,' Cooper replied, closing her folder. 'I'll need to speak with her, and when I'm satisfied you pose no threat to her, you'll be permitted to visit her again.'

'How long will that be?'

'Perhaps an hour or two. I suggest you call her family, if they're local, and let them know what's going on.'

Cooper left then, leaving Shane behind in the room and he had to physically control the urge to hit something; it would look very suspicious on his part if he did that when he was being questioned over that very thing. Instead, he sat on the empty hospital bed and pulled out his cellphone to dial the Castle houseline.

Beckett answered on the fourth ring, sleep clogging her voice. 'Hello?'

'Kate? It's Shane.'

'Shane, what's going on?'

'It's Alexis.' _Do it quickly_, he thought, _rip the band-aid off all at once_. 'We're in the ER at Saint Vincent's. She's had a miscarriage.'

'We're on the way.'

* * *

><p>Beckett and Castle raced into the ER, straight over to the desk. 'I'm Kate Castle,' she said in a breathless rush, 'my daughter Alexis Castle was brought in for a miscarriage with her fiance Doctor Shane Weaver?'<p>

The desk nurse paged through her records on the computer and nodded. 'She has been moved from the ER up to the ICU. I believe the social worker with her case also has a few question for you as well.'

'Social worker?' Castle was baffled. 'Why would she need a social worker?'

'It's standard protocol at this hospital that any miscarriage is investigated for any signs that the miscarriage was caused by abuse or assault.'

He wanted to laugh - the notion of Shane beating on Alexis was absurd at best and ridiculous at worst - but he maintained his composure. 'Fine, then. What room can we find them in?'

'Miz Castle is in five-five-one. Doctor Weaver should be in the cafeteria.'

'The cafeteria?' Beckett asked, her own sense of outrage growing to match her husband's.

'Yes, again it's just protocol but the spouses are kept apart while the social worker is investigating the case. If you head through those doors-' the nurse pointed them in the right direction '-you'll find the cafeteria down that hallway to your left.'

'Thank you.'

Beckett waited until they were out of earshot, which in a busy ER didn't take much distance, before she exploded in a hiss of steam. 'This is absolutely asinine,' she vented to Castle, 'why would they think Shane would lay a finger on Alexis, unless it's to make love with her?'

'We know that, and you've been a cop long enough to know the signs of who is a smooth operator trying to give the medical staff a fast shuffle.'

'Not to mention the fact that Alexis more than likely didn't know she was pregnant, which is baffling even in itself since her and Shane are the freakin' poster children for safe-sex.'

'Kate,' Castle winced; there were some things a father never got used to hearing, even if his baby girl was a grown-up now. 'Let's just focus on being supportive, okay?'

'Exactly.'

When they found Shane in the cafeteria, listlessly stirring a cup of coffee, Beckett's heart broke for him. 'Shane?' she ventured cautiously and wasn't surprised when his head snapped up, his eyes were red-rimmed. 'Oh, Shane, it's okay, she's going to be fine.'

'The doctor said it was just bad luck this didn't stick and it's not even the fact she was pregnant and miscarried that has either of us upset. It's that fucking bitch, Cooper, she- sorry, Kate, I'm sorry, but you know I would never in a million years-'

'I know. Cooper, you said? Caramel skin, green eyes, looks like she has a stick up her ass?'

'That's the one, how'd you know?'

'I've run into her once or twice, like you do with homicide and abuse cases. I think I'm going to have a little chat with her upstairs.'

'She's on her way down here. Alexis texted me,' he said with a quirk in his lips. 'My crafty _shani_ always knows how to figure it out.'

'Alexis learned out to climb out of her crib when she was fifteen months old,' Castle told him, 'if the girl wants something, she'll get it.'

They all pokered up as Cooper came back in and sniffed haughtily at the site of Beckett.

'Bringing police into this wasn't necessary, Doctor Weaver, unless you think you need them for protection.'

'I maybe Detective Kate Beckett but I am also Kate Castle,' Beckett retorted, 'and Alexis is my daughter. And whether it's as a cop or as a mother, I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that Shane would never beat Alexis, because he knows what would happen to him if he so much as called her a foul name, nevermind striking her.'

'In a nutshell, they'd never find the body,' Castle added, getting to his feet beside his wife, a wall of solidarity. 'So you can say whatever you need to in your report, but there is no cause for any further investigation into this matter.'

'Which is the same conclusion I reached after speaking to Alexis.' Cooper tugged at her jacket stiffly. 'If you like, you can all go and visit her now.'


	2. An Explanation

_Hello once again! Thank you so much for the feedback already! I love how you all respond, you're the best fans, because you're Castle fans! Spread the word on this one, because it's going to get juicy! This is only the beginning!_

* * *

><p>When Shane was permitted to go into Alexis' room, he saw she was lying on her side and staring blankly at the wall.<p>

'Lex?'

She blinked and focused on her eyes on him. They were dull with medication and the look in them had Shane's heart breaking into a thousand little pieces. 'Shane,' she whispered. 'Shane, I'm sorry.'

'Please stop apologizing, Lex, this wasn't your fault. We can still have babies when we're ready, and you had other logical reasons to think you were late.'

'But I...I feel like I should have known.'

'Plenty of women get pregnant and don't know it when they are three weeks pregnant.'

'Andrea did,' she said with a quiver in her chin. 'And Lanie found out when she was only six weeks with Carey.'

Shane shook his head. Alexis could be so selective in her memory sometimes when she was trying to prove her own point. 'The only reason Andrea knew was because she was abducted by her psycho brother-in-law and had to be taken to the hospital where they found out about it. And as I recall, the only reason Lanie even thought to go to the hospital was because Detective Ryan pointed out it was possible she was pregnant.'

'Right.'

'I'm sorry this happened, honey, but clearly this isn't how we're supposed to have a baby together.'

'And I know you're trying to make me feeling better but...I just feel numb, I'm not even upset that I lost a baby, I'm upset that I didn't know.'

'I know you are.'

'Shane, I love you so much.' Alexis pulled him in for a kiss, and savoured the taste of his lips - home, comfort, arousal all in one.

'I called your parents,' he told her and watched her face crumple up a little. 'They're outside.'

'Oh, god, how are they going to handle this?'

'I think they're mostly concerned about the fact I was suspected of pounding on you.'

'Well, you certainly pound me, but not _on_ me,' she said lightly, and made him laugh.

'There we are, a little smile. You up to seeing them?'

Alexis nodded, and with a kiss on her brow Shane went to the door, opened it quietly to welcome in Beckett and Castle; he didn't bother asking where RJ was. She waited with baited breath for the onslaught of stern words from her father about responsibility and the rest of it, but when he simply sat on the edge of her bed and kissed her hand, she broke once more.

'Daddy,' she sobbed against his shoulder.

'It's alright, Alexis.'

'I'm sorry, I never meant to disappoint you.'

'What?'

Alexis straightened up, looked from his face to Beckett's and back again. 'I'm still in school, working towards my goal of being a psychiatrist. Shane and I, you know we're safe, and still, this happened-'

'And things like this happen, Alexis. You can't blame yourself for something beyond your control. Like the fact that the ninety-five percent of miscarriages in women at four to twelve weeks are because of chromosomal abnormalities that have nothing to do with either parent's fertility.'

'Wikipedia on his smart-phone in the cafeteria,' Beckett explained off of Shane's surprised look.

'I also know that if you blame yourself for this, it will only make it worse for you and Shane,' Castle added. 'It's natural enough to feel guilt but this was not your fault.'

'Not my fault.'

Castle nodded then looked at his future son-in-law. 'Shane I think you're up.'

'Lex.' Shane sat with her on the bed, wrapped his arms around her. 'It's okay, I'm here.'

'It...it wasn't my fault.'

'No, my love, it's not your fault.'

'It's just bad luck,' she repeated hollowly, hoping that the repetitive reminder would make her believe it; she'd already started to believe it. 'I didn't do anything wrong.'

'Of course not.'

Beckett watched the two of them together, and sighed. It wasn't how she imagined Alexis planned to spend her mid-semester break, and she sincerely hoped this didn't spook her. She knew the two of them enjoyed a very active sex life and knew Alexis would more than likely think what if it happens again. Sure enough, Alexis looked at Shane and asked him that very question.

'Shane, what if we're in bed together and this happens again?'

'Then we'll deal with it, the way we always do. Together, a unit.' He picked up her hand, wiggled the finger with her engagement ring on it. 'This means we're in the gold and the shit together, Lexy.'

'Wish you had one so I could say the same thing back.'

When he saw her hopeful little smile, Shane knew they would come out of this. Maybe not completely unbruised but certainly their love for each other was strong enough to help them get through the worst of it. Toeing off his shoes, he swung his feet up, and pulled her close against him; it was the signal to Beckett and Castle that their time together was up, and Alexis was in good hands. They subtly moved out of the room to give them some privacy; once in the hallway, Beckett gave a shaky sigh.

'Oh, Richard.'

This time it was his wife that Castle cradled close to his body, patting the back of her head as she poured her heart out on his shoulder. 'She'll be fine, Kate. She's got a good man by her side.'

'I understand what she means, though, the whole not knowing making her feel guilty. It's a female thing,' she added with a little chuckle when she pulled back to look her husband in the eye. 'You can't give birth so you just won't get it, no matter how hard you try.'

'I'll take your word for it, honey.'

'Come on, we better get home, make up Alexis' room for the two of them when she's sprung tomorrow.'

'You think she'll want to be there?'

'Just trust me.'

* * *

><p>Beckett's prediction was spot on, for the following day, which also happened to be her day off the roll, Alexis and Shane arrived shortly after nine am. RJ was playing with Omeo in the living room when they arrived and he raced over to his big sister and her man, gave her a squeezing hug.<p>

'Less, I sorry you in the hop-i-tal,' he said solemnly.

'What did Mom say to you, little bro?'

'You hadda 'cident, an' you gonna be okay. Wha' happen?'

'Alexis just had some bad luck, RJ,' Shane replied, wishing he could tell the little boy everything; he felt almost as guilty as Alexis had the night before in not giving RJ the whole truth. But how would a nearly-two year-old understand that Alexis had lost a baby she didn't even know she had?

'Shane, I'm going to go lie down, okay?' Alexis still felt hollowed out, her hormones going up and down like a yo-yo which she was told would be normal with her condition. Half the time she still wanted to weep, the other half made her want to scream and it was all underlined with a feeling that she was somehow less of a woman for having gone through this. But she knew it would pass, that her hormones were wreaking havoc on her now and that she wasn't herself, so she tried to put on a calm, brave face. 'Do you think maybe we could have that pea soup and cheesy garlic toast for lunch?'

'Of course, Lex. Whatever you need.'

'Shane, do you mind taking RJ with you to the grocery store?' Beckett asked, knowing it was an imposition. 'I'd like a little alone time with Alexis.'

'Sure. Come on, big boy, we're going to get somethings to make Alexis lunch.'

'Soup help.'

'Soup does help,' Shane agreed, looking up the stairs. 'Beckett can I speak to you?'

'Sure.'

'RJ, get your coat and boots ready, I'll help you put them on.' With the youngster occupied, Shane went to Beckett, put his hands on his hips. 'Kate, I want to tell RJ the truth of what happened. Does he know how babies are made?'

'Yeah, we had that talk with him after Lanie announced her pregnancy back in August.'

'Do you think he'd be able to handle it, if I told him that Alexis lost a baby?'

Beckett puffed her cheeks, blew out a breath, then saw Castle emerge from the office, looking as wrung out as she felt. 'Richard what do you think?'

'About what?'

Shane repeated his request to Castle, who nodded solemnly. 'I don't want to say anything if you don't think he can handle it. I think he should know, so he understands why his sister is sad and upset, but I don't want to scar him with something you might not think he's ready to hear.'

'I think he should as well. Kate, I know you want to protect him, but if Alexis is here and she snaps at RJ he needs to understand a little bit of the why,' he said when Beckett opened her mouth to protest. 'You know how upset RJ would be if Alexis yelled at him.'

'I do.' God this was a rotten, sucky situation all around, she decided. 'Fine, then, okay, you tell him what you think is necessary. Just remember he isn't the bloodthirsty hounds like Dell and Tessi and Violet. He's a lot more sensitive like Mallory and Carey.'

'Right.'

'Shan'! We goin'?' RJ bellowed, noting the conference of adults by the kitchen island.

'Yeah, we're going little man.'

* * *

><p>RJ could sense something was up with his big bro; Shane wasn't as happy as he normally was when he was with Alexis and RJ being the brother - despite the twenty-something year age difference - had to defend his sister's honour.<p>

'Shan'?'

'Yeah, RJ?'

'Why so sad?'

'What's that?' Shane turned from the shelf of dried lentils and legumes to see RJ's dark blue eyes watching him with concern.

'Why sad? You meana Lessis?'

'No, I wasn't mean to Alexis, little man.'

RJ's eyebrows beetled together. 'So why sad?'

Shane dragged a hand over his face as he tossed dried green peas into the cart and looking around at the almost-empty aisle, pulled the cart to the side. 'RJ, you understand how babies are made, right?'

'Mumum an' Daddy love eash-oder and all the love make a baby inside.'

'Right, well, sometimes when people love each other and that love makes a baby, there's something wrong with the baby and the mama and daddy lose the baby.'

'No find it?'

The innocence of the toddler's question nearly had Shane breaking down in the supermarket then and there but he kept it together for the sake of his sanity and dignity. 'No, RJ, it means the baby had something wrong that it doesn't grow right and it dies.'

'It dies?' RJ's eyes went wide, his lower lip trembling.

'That's right, you see this pea?' A little inspired, Shane grabbed the bag of peas from the cart, showed him a single one. 'Babies start out even smaller than that and if something is wrong with them, they can't grow into a bigger baby, like Auntie Lanie has in her belly.'

'Or my Tah-rini.'

'Or your Trini,' he agreed. 'RJ, that's the bad luck Alexis had. She had a little tiny tiny baby inside her belly that had something wrong with it, and it didn't live.'

'Oh no. That so sad.'

'It is very sad and Alexis is upset because it was so little she didn't even know it was there yet and she feels bad about that.'

'She no' bad.' RJ may have been nearly two but his concept of what was right and wrong was very highly developed. 'She do not'in bad.'

'I know, which is why in the next few days or so, she is going to be sad or angry, so we just have to be patient with her, okay? We have to let her know we love her no matter what.'

'I do that. Shan'?'

'Yes.'

'She 'till be a mumum?'

'Oh, of course, when the time is right for us to have a family,' Shane said, and realized he was discussing his own fertility with a boy in diapers. 'But that's a few years from now.'

'Okay. So can you be a big boy for me and remember that she needs our support?'

'Uh-huh. Maybe...maybe some fuh-lowers?'

'That's a great idea.' He felt a little ashamed he hadn't thought of that, but RJ had a thing for making sure Shane gave Alexis flowers. 'What kind do you think she'd like?'


	3. A GirlTalk

Spending the day at the loft helped, Alexis thought. Not that she was avoiding going home with Shane, but she sure as hell didn't want to see the bloodied mattress and sheets, and be reminded of it all. After the delicious lunch with her family, she, Shane and her father had gone to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick out a new mattress and new linens for it. She'd taken the subway back to the loft on her own, which Shane had understood - she needed a breather to sort her own brain-space out - and he'd given her a loving kiss with a promise he'd meet her there.

The ride, the walk helped too; Alexis knew she'd still be dealing with the abysmal morass of her hormones and that would be fine. Shane had handled her hormones before when she'd changed prescriptions for her hormone injection birth-control and she knew her body well enough to recognize when she was being a total bitch because of them too. But being out, seeing other people in the real world reminded her that this wasn't the end of hers. Shane was still with her every step of the way, unwavering in his love and strength, and Alexis would not disappoint him by dwelling and sulking. It had happened, through no fault of hers or Shane's, and they would acknowledge it, grieve it, and move forward.

When she arrived back at the loft, she wasn't surprised to find Beckett there, seated at the coffee table and going over files. She glanced up at the intrusion and in a subtle move of shoving away the table as she stood up, made Alexis smile.

'Hey, Lex, how you feeling? I thought you were going to the three B's with Shane and your father.'

'I did, we picked out a new mattress and new linens. They drove the Lincoln home to put in the mattress and I wanted to come here.'

'You didn't go with them?'

Alexis shook her head, then scratched it. 'I didn't want to be reminded of it. Shane understood, he gets it, so...He wants to take the whole week off with me, but I told him no. I want him to be as normal as possible, that's what I need to get through this.'

'He's a good man, and he loves you very much.'

'Where's RJ?' Shane had told her about the conversation in the grocery story and it baffled her how ridiculously intelligent RJ could be to ask about things like that. The kid was a freakin' alien prodigy some days, she'd decided.

'Nap time. I thought if you wanted...' Beckett trailed off, nibbled her lip. 'Maybe we could have an afternoon of girl-time?'

'Don't you have work?'

'You're my child, Alexis, as much as RJ is, and you need your mother,' she replied gently and saw the raw emotion storm through Alexis' eyes. 'There will always be work, but you need me right now.'

'What did you have in mind?'

* * *

><p>A little while later, they were tucked into Beckett and Castle's bed, eating bowls of mocha-latte Haagen-Daaz while Dirty Dancing played on the television.<p>

'I didn't know and that's the part I feel guilty about,' Alexis said when there was a quiet moment. 'I didn't notice anything was off, and I didn't think anything of it when I was late because it's not the first time my body's reacted to stress that way, so...what if it happens again, only I don't miscarry, if I'm out with friends at a party and have a few drinks, and...what kind of woman does that?'

'Well, Lanie did for one,' Beckett pointed out, unwittingly repeating what Shane had said to Alexis the night before, 'and look how Carey turned out. She wasn't expecting to get pregnant the first two times, and we all know Dell was a surprise too. All it means is that you're human, Lex. You're human and human beings aren't precognative beings.

Another thought occurred to her, one that was on the fringe of possibility but still there nonetheless. 'Did you and Shane not use protection? Is that what you're more worried about?'

'No, I know the night it happened, we only used my birth control. We were out of condoms and couldn't help ourselves, it was just...' Alexis trailed off, blushing. 'I can't really tell this stuff to you, I mean you're my mother right?'

'That's the beauty of our relationship. When the situation begs it, I can be the big sister instead of the mom.'

'I suppose that's true.'

'So, was it a planned date night, or just you guys getting frisky on the living room floor?' Beckett asked with girlish glee, hoping it would brighten Alexis' spirits.

Alexis blushed harder, dipped her spoon into her bowl. 'Now I remember why we can't do this, because the guy in your stories is my father.'

'Oh come on, sweetie, we're grown-ups here,' Beckett said, seeing remnants of the fog lift; she would take this ball and run it to the end zone. 'Were you watching a dirty movie together, or a little role-playing?'

When Alexis blushed harder at the mention of the second one, she knew she'd found her mark. 'So what's he dig? French maid, maybe pirate wench?'

'Roman gladiator and the princess,' Alexis muttered before cramming her mouth with a spoonful of ice cream. 'We'd gone to see a special showing of the Russell Crowe movie when it was playing during the Greek system's cancer society fundraiser week, and he told me he wouldn't say no to me dressing up like Lucilla, the emperor's sister.'

'Oooo, saucy.'

'That's it, I can't do this-'

'Okay, I give, no teasing,' Beckett chuckled, grabbing Alexis' wrist so she couldn't storm off. 'Just listening.'

The young woman relented, and realized as she looked at Beckett's face this was, as had been previously mentioned, the beauty of their relationship - Beckett could be that big sister or girlfriend when Alexis needed her to be, the strong female role model close to her own age for when she needed to talk about things like this. If she could do it at the bachelorette parties and girls' nights, why couldn't she do it when it was something more serious?

'We were getting all...hot and...touchy and we only realized we were out of condoms when it was the...point of no return,' Alexis said at length, hoping the other woman would understand. 'We both were okay with it because it's not like I'm on the pill, my choice of birth control is far more effective for someone my age so we didn't think anything of it.'

'Is that something you guys do a lot?' Beckett asked, and relief a small wave of relief when Alexis shook her head.

'That was the first time since...my birthday that had happened and only the fourth time ever in our nearly two years together. We are very responsible.'

'I know, I mean - and this isn't a condemnation, Lex - I thought you and Shane had bought stocks in condom companies the way you kept that hollowed-out book of yours loaded up.'

At this, Alexis straightened up, set aside her bowl of frozen goodness to stare at the detective. 'You know about my book? What else did you find in there?'

'Well, amongst many, many condoms, I see you put to use the camera Rick and I got you for Christmas for some...photos,' Beckett said with an evil smile.

'Oh, God, I knew I should have left those at Shane's place.'

'I never knew you were that flexible. I tried a couple of those tricks out and I was walking funny for a week.'

Alexis looked at the bed they were sitting on, studied the headboard and knocked it with her knuckles. 'This is a smooth headboard. Mine in New Jersey's and the one at home here are both railed. Or an armchair works well too.'

'That a hint to stay out of your old room when your father and I starting try to give you another sibling?' Beckett asked lightly.

'Yes. It's bad enough to think our very first second-generation baby was conceived on the counter in the bathroom, even if it was at a Hallowe'en party.'

'Seriously Lex, you've never done that with Shane?' Beckett asked her incredulously, reaching that level of sisterly familiarity the conversation had been intended for. And yet the turn of the conversation in this direction didn't feel gross or weird at all, she realized, just two girls talking about their love lives with the men they loved. Every woman needed that. 'You two haven't been to a party one night, teasing each other until you had to sneak off and bang each other senseless?'

'Well sure we have, I mean...' Alexis trailed off, then decided what the hell, if she couldn't confess these things to Beckett, than who? 'Look at Shane, who hasn't felt the tingle around him?'

'You certainly did. Which reminds me. When did you guys actually first do the deed? You know mine and Rick's.'

'The night of Ryan and Jenny's wedding reception.'

'Exactly, so share.'

Alexis reached for her bowl of ice cream again, scraped her spoon around the sides. 'Remember the afternoon we went Christmas shopping and then we went to Sweet-Tooth? I went to Shane's for dinner that afternoon before he was on nights, and he was having a nap before he went into work. We were laying together on his bed, and one thing led to another and...it was just amazing, he was so sweet and patient with me.'

'The good ones always are.'

'It felt so beautiful and natural, it was just...it helped me figure it out, what people meant when they distinguished between having sex and making love.'

Beckett smiled warmly at the pure love in Alexis' voice. 'Makes a world of difference when it's with the right man, doesn't it.'

'Oh yeah.'

The sound of RJ stirring from his nap through the baby monitor had Alexis looking towards the door. 'I could use a hug from him.'

'You got it.'

Beckett disappeared, then reappeared a few minutes later with RJ holding her hand. Upon seeing his big sister, RJ raced over and clambered into the bed, wrapped his little arms around her body.

'It o-kay, Lessis, no be sad,' he murmured to her.

'Thanks RJ.'

'Love Shan' fuh-lowers?'

'Yes, I did love the flowers Shane got me. Bet that was your idea, wasn't it?'

RJ nodded, proud he could help cheer his sister up. 'Me dee-ah. Fuh-lowers happy.'

'They are happy aren't they.'

'Wan' wash fishies?'

'I'd love to,' she said genuinely. 'Do you want to see the big scary ones or the cartoon ones?'

'Toons, pease.'

As they walked down the stairs, the front door opened and Alexis saw her man walk in with ehr father. 'RJ, you go find the disc on the shelf, okay?'

'O-kay.'

He scuttled off and Alexis went right to Shane, threw her arms around him as she gave him a kiss, hard and hot on his mouth. She knew it had Castle raising his eyebrows just a little, but Alexis didn't care.

'Shane,' she murmured, laying her head on his strong shoulder. 'I love you so much.'

'I love you right back, Lex.'

'Thank you.'

'For what?'

'For just being you. For not pushing me to stay and help you guys set up the new mattress at our apartment. For...everything.'

Shane smiled as he walked them towards the kitchen for a little more privacy. He flipped on the tea-kettle to boil water, then picked out mugs from the cupboard. 'You're my girl, Lex. What else would I do?'

'I promised RJ we'd watch his some cartoons with him, you wanna hang for it, or do you have work you need to do?'

'I'm on nights, so I might just catch a few hours down-time before I head in. What do you feel like having for dinner tonight?'

'We'll make something at home,' she replied, and Shane felt a dribble of relief.

'Home, as in home?'

'Yeah. I'm not going to avoid going home, that's the coward's way out, I just didn't want to be reminded of it. Maybe...maybe I can make us Mexican for dinner? Pulled pork tacos with pico de gallo?'

He nodded; making him dinner when she was home and he had to work nights was one of the rituals Shane loved most in their relationship. 'That sounds amazing.'

'Lessis! Shane! Got it!'

Alexis smiled, looked over to where RJ was waving the DVD case like a banner of war. 'Okay, we'll be right over, bro.'

* * *

><p>Later, alone in their apartment after dinner, Shane held Alexis close as the first wave of what were actually post-partum tears flooded from her eyes, and tucked her into bed with a murmured 'I love you' just as his communicator beeped and he was summoned to tend to the recently deceased.<p> 


	4. A Second Bombshell

Thanks to traffic and the fact he was heading uptown on a Saturday night, Shane arrived at the crime scene the same time as Ryan and Esposito. He was barely out of the OCME van and nodding at the uniform - clearly a rookie from the greenish tinge to his skin as he stood post - when the Irishman was falling into step with him while Esposito was taking notes from an ashen-faced man in a utility-worker's uniform.

'Hey, Shane, can you settle a debate for me and my homie?' Ryan asked as they walked up the aisle of a wide alley on West Eighty-Fourth Street.

'Ryan, you know the more street you try to be, the whiter you sound? And right now you are hitting Fluffernut levels,' Shane replied dryly.

'Whatever, can you settle the argument or not?'

'Let's hear it,' Shane sighed, and Ryan could hear more than just jovial resignation in the man's voice. There was something else there, a kind of melancholy and grief-stricken combination.

'Shane, are you okay?'

'No, I'm not and it's not the time to discuss it, so tell me your problem instead.'

'Okay then.' They'd been friends for far too long for Ryan to push him; he knew it would shut Shane down even further, so he jammed his gloved hands in his pockets. 'Esposito says in a celebrity death match, Morpheus would kick Obi-Wan's ass. I say the Jedi wins hands down. What do you think?'

'Well, are we fighting in the Star Wars universe or inside the Matrix or outside the Matrix?'

'Neutral zone.'

'Does Morpheus have access to his uploads? And can Obi-Wan use the Force?'

'Yes and yes.'

'Then Morpheus.'

Ryan squawked in indignation, but let it go, since Shane was in a pisser of a mood. 'Why don't we deal with this DB waiting for us, huh?'

Shane nodded, glad that Ryan wasn't pressing him to spill his guts as they walked up to the body where Esposito was waiting for them in his warm-looking overcoat. Dull light from the street lamps refracted off his freshly-shaven head, which made his dark eyes appear even deeper.

'Beckett's on her way for this one,' he told them, his collar turned up to fight the November chill near his ears.

'Good. Let's see what we have.'

It was a man about his age, clearly dressed for indoors - heavy linen shirt, jeans and shined loafers which meant was probably a guest of the hotel that formed the southern side of the alley. What was left of his skull showed there was thick, curling black hair that was styled in a shag down to his shoulders, and the open mouth showed good dental work had been one of his priorities.

Ryan patted down the pockets and found the man's wallet in his back left pocket. 'Looks like he's one of your countrymen, Shane. He's got an Israeli driver's license. Name is...Yassir Lew-er-tow.'

'What?' At the mention of the name, Shane's head snapped up as he opened his kit. He tossed his gloves back in, pulled himself up from his crouched position. 'What did you say his name is?'

'Have a look for the record. Yassir Lewertow.'

'It's pronounced _Leh-ver-tov_,' he replied in a low voice. 'His father was a Polish Jew who survived the Krakow ghetto and moved to Tel Aviv after the war. Everyone called him Paulie, even though his name was actually Solomon. He wanted his son to fit in with the Middle Eastern culture so he gave him an Arabic name.'

'How you get all that?' Esposito asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

'Because we were friends.'

'Oh, damn, bro, I'm sorry.'

'Help me with his pockets.'

Both detectives blinked. 'Come again, Doctor?' Ryan said.

'His pockets, gentlemen, there's something I need to see before I get into any other examinations.'

Completely baffled by both Shane's solemnity and his breaking of procedure and protocol - something they could never recall him doing in his twelve years as an ME - they patted down the body and Esposito paused by Yassir's heart, felt the sturdiness beneath it. 'Is this it?' he asked, reaching in and pulling out a badge case.

'Yep, that's it. Open it up.'

Esposito did so and even his street-salted eyes went wide - it was a very official looking badge, with very official looking photo and thumbprint identifiers, and a silver seal by his signature.

'Dude,' Ryan breathed looking over his partner's shoulder, 'Is that what I think it is?'

'Yep. Our corpse is an agent. Which means,' Esposito realized, 'we're going to be swarmed.'

'Reporters are part of the gig, Detective.'

The men all glanced over, saw Beckett in her heeled boots and warm red coat. She'd gotten festive and added a matching red tam to protect against the light whisper of snow just beginning to fall.

'Not exactly, Detective Beckett.' Esposito handed over the badge and watched her shift.

'This changes nothing, Espo,' she reminded him. 'This is still a homicide in the city of New York and that makes...Yassir Lewertow ours. NSA, HLS, CIA, FBI and all those other initials can do that dance all they want, but until we have any evidence to suggest it, we can't assume because he works for Israeli intelligence that this was a politically motivated killing. Ryan, take a few uniforms, see if anyone heard anything, Espo you have the guys who called it in?'

'Yes ma'am, Detective.'

The Ry-Sposito monster parted ways on their tasks, and Beckett turned to Shane, motherly concern in her hers. 'Are you okay to do this?'

'You mean being distracted by my fiancee or the fact that I knew this guy twenty years ago when we were in the air force together?'

'Either one.'

'Alexis is going to be fine and I want a task to focus on to keep me from calling her every ten minutes, and if that means taking care of an old friend who got his brains bashed in, then so be it.'

Beckett heard the determination in his voice and nodded briskly. 'So what can you tell me so far, Doctor?'

'Cause of death is blunt force trauma to the back of the skull. Looks like someone used an aluminum Louisville Slugger or maybe a smooth pipe of some kind.'

'Not wooden?'

'Nope, wood splinters and this wound may be nasty but it's clean.' He dug out his liver thermometer, inserted it into Yassir's side and noted the reading in his chart. 'Based on liver temperature and given ambient air temp, I'd say he was toast between ten-thirty and midnight.'

'Okay.'

'His wallet and his badge were both there, so motive likely isn't robbery. I'll check for sex, drugs and rock-and-roll when I get him checked into my house.'

'Sounds like fun.' Beckett smiled at Shane, then dropped the look when his face paled, even worse than the previous night in the hospital with Alexis. 'What is it?'

'That.' Shane pointed with his pen at the sleek Suburbans parking on the other side of the crime scene tape at the entrance to the alley. Out of the passenger's side door of the lead vehicle popped a petite woman with silver streaked black hair and heavy-lidded eyes. She wore a stark black jacket over an equally stark black suit with a tomato red blouse, soft-heel black leather boots, and an expression that clearly read 'I'm running this shit'.

Beckett drew herself up to her full height and opened her mouth to speak when the woman speared Shane with a single stare and the wonder of how Shane knew the woman was put to rest at once.

'Scheine, what are you doing here?'

'My job, Mama. I'm on the roll tonight and was tagged for this homicide.'

'I'm Detective Katherine Beckett,of the NYPD, I am the lead investigator in Yassir's murder,' Beckett began, offering her hand.

'Katsa Shir Weaver, Mossad Special Investigations,' Shir replied, ignoring the outstretched hand as she continued to stare Shane down. 'You cannot investigate Yassir Lewertow's murder, Scheine, for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is your personal connection to him.'

'Detective Beckett has already been informed of my past friendship with Yassir. She is aware that we were in the air force in Israel together when we were teenagers, and after...I was done, I came to the states for university.' Shane paused for effect, to drive his next point home. 'This is the first time I've seen him in nearly twenty years.'

'Be that as it may, I cannot allow you to do this Scheine.' Shir dipped her hands into her pockets, came up with a stick of Juicy Fruit gum. It was one of her favourite American treats; she always stocked up on it when she had to be in the States. 'I am in charge of this case with Detective Beckett and there could be questions if my son is the lead pathologist on the case.'

'Can I speak to you in private, Mom?'

'Detective,' Shir said in a soft tone and Beckett made herself scarce. When they had some semblance of privacy, she stared her son down. 'Scheine, you know damn well why you can't do this post-mortem examination. Not only do you have yourself to think of, your job, you also have a young fiancee who would be just a ripe juicy morsel for them.'

'Alexis knows about my past, Mama. All of it.'

'As I raised you right, I expect nothing less than her to have full disclosure.'

From her spot near Esposito, Beckett watched the exchange and wondered if Shane knew he looked like he could be a twelve year old boy busted for sneaking out after curfew. When Esposito was finished with the man who'd called in the body, he edged closer to Beckett.

'So the loading dock manager said he was on his break in the kitchen from ten forty-five to eleven fifteen, and when he got back he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.' He consulted his notes, making sure he had the details right. 'He was gone maybe ten minutes when he went to use the little boys room around ten to midnight and when he got back, he thought the noise he heard was the linen trucks picking up the daily supply, so he opened the rolling doors and instead of a truck, saw our boy Yassir there.'

'Which gives us a kill zone.'

'Sure does. What's all that about?' Esposito asked, pointing towards Shane, who was still arguing with his mother.

'That's Shane's mother who is a very uppity-up Mossad agent and wants Shane off the case because of his connection to Yassir.'

'What's going on with him? He's way off his usual beat today.'

Beckett hesitated only a moment, then shook her head. 'It's not my place to say.'

'Everything okay with him and Alexis? They didn't split up or anythign like that, did they?'

'Not at all, just...things going on that aren't my place to tell you.'

As Esposito understood this code quite well, he nodded in a subtle gesture that the matter would slide between them with a mental note on his part to ask Shane about it when he and Ryan got to the morgue.

Shir stalked over to them, then, and spoke with the tone of someone clearly not used to having their orders shut down. 'Shane has said he is going to complete the on-scene examination and then pass over the post-mortem examination to another doctor, a Lanie Parrish-Robbins.'

'She's in tomorrow morning at eight o'clock,' Beckett informed Shir, who sniffed derisively.

'Earlier would be better. Yassir Lewertow was a high ranking agent, an agent who had diploamtic status and immunity in this country, and if his death is not given priority, then I will be forced to speak to your supervisor as well as the chief medical examiner.'

'Shane are you okay with that?' Beckett asked him, and saw the weight of it on his shoulders.

'Don't really have a choice do I? I'll transport him back to the morgue, tag him for examination by Lanie at eight am.'

'Sharp,' Shir added.

'Sharp,' Shane agreed, and went with his assistants to load the body.

Beckett, Ryan and Esposito watched him go, watched Shir stalk off to the Suburbans. 'Guys, I want you to stick with Shane. He's got a lot going on in his personal life right now, and I don't want him losing his shit because Mommy Dearest has swept in and steam-rolled us.'

'Kate, what the hell is up? I saw him two days ago and he was on the ceiling because Alexis was going to be home for a week. Now he looks like someone turned Chubbs into sushi,' Ryan said, referring to Shane's pet tropical fish.

'Nothing I'm at liberty to say. But maybe, if you took him a little Thai food from Monsoon's, he might be up for a little bro-chat at the morgue.'


	5. An Admission

The guys took Beckett's advice, and once Montgomery had arrived on scene to handle the international interlopers as Beckett had called them they headed to the morgue by way of Monsoon's. Shane had a weakness for Thai food so it was an excellent bribe, as was the pineapple cream soda he also favoured.

'So what did he tell you?' Esposito asked as they rode the elevator up to level three where Shane's autopsy theatre was located.

'Only that he was in a shitty mood, and he didn't want to talk about it on scene. You get anything from Beckett?'

'Yes and no. She said that him and Alexis were fine, no split up or anything, but clearly something happened.'

'I think if they'd broken up, he'd be at home, inconsolable,' Ryan pointed out.

'You're right about that one.'

The lift doors opened and they headed into Shane's work-space, stopped short when they saw him on the phone, clearly talking to Alexis.

'How you feeling, sweetheart? Good, no that's a good thing, trust me. You took your medication? Okay, if you think you're gonna sick it up, go for it, it's worse to fight it. No, I'm just in the lab for the night tonight so don't worry about it. Call me if you need to. Okay. I love you too, I'll see you around nine.'

He hung up, and before turning back to his computer, the men watched Shane give a sigh dangerously close to a sob. They watched as the usually cool and collected doctor dragged his hands over his face in genuine frustration before he began typing once more.

'Hey, doc,' Ryan ventured cautiously, deciding on the spot kid-gloves were the way to handle this situation. 'Brought you a snack.'

Shane turned around, saw them both their with take-out containers and expressions of concern. 'Thanks.'

'Cashew chicken with rice noodles and extra onions, and that pineapple cream soda you dig.'

Esposito set their containers on the relatively cleared work-station that held file folders, an overflowed in-box, a framed photo of Shane and Alexis together in Paris, and his statue of Homer Simpson as the grim reaper. 'Figured you could use a pick me up since you're looking like someone canceled Chanukah.'

'Thanks.'

You feel like sharing, or not yet?'

The question asked in such simple terms from a place of genuine concern, not just colleague-to-colleague but the family kind of worry, had Shane staring at the stack of blank lab report forms beside the picture of him and Alexis on vacation. He knew if he looked at their faces just yet, it would break him and that would not happen, not when Alexis needed him to be strong for her, even when she wasn't around.

'It's Alexis,' he began, which had Ryan nodding as he took a seat across from him.

'Yeah we figured that much. Something happen at school, did she get put on academic probation?'

'She had a miscarriage last night.'

Esposito and Ryan's eyes popped wide, and they looked at each other. Shane and Alexis were probably the most responsible couple in the universe when it came to birth control; to hear this kind of news was mind-blowing.

'She was hardly three weeks into it, and she thought she was late from the stress of school, which has happened before. She's okay,' Shane added hastily, 'we can still have kids and everything, but still...'

'Dude, I'm so sorry,' Ryan said with genuine sympathy. 'Even if you're not planning for it, that's still brutal news to hear.'

Esposito blew out a breath. 'How is Alexis? Is she home? Is she doing okay?'

'Yeah, she's home and resting, and she'll be okay but...when it happened, I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life. Waking up to my fiancee telling me she's bleeding and then seeing the bed soaked in red like that isn't something I want to ever go through again.'

'Fuck me, that's just awful.'

'So now, we're just trying to move forward.' Shane picked up his plastic bottle of water and just stared at it for a few minutes before he turned around and heaved it at the bank of cold-storage drawers for his customers. It bounced off the stainless steel and rolled against the adjoining wall as Shane's breath came in fast, heavy pants.

'Fuck, this isn't how this was supposed to happen,' he said in a low voice of barely controlled fury. 'This isn't how this was supposed to happen, our first child was supposed to be a momentous event of happiness, not me calling to see if Alexis has taken her blood-loss medication. Fuck!'

'It's okay, bro,' Ryan murmured and stepping over, wrapped his arms around Shane from behind to squeeze hard. 'Don't fight it,' he added when Shane tried to struggle. 'It's decompressing your central nervous system so you won't blow your stack.'

'I know, Kevin. I went to medical school, you know.'

'It's okay, man. We've all been there.' Esposito, who'd gone to retrieve the mistreated, innocent water bottle, returned and set it on the work bench. 'Did I ever tell you what happened with Meredeth and Tessi when she was born?'

'I don't remember.'

'Tessi wasn't turned completely, her nose was pointed at Mere's hip bone instead of her spine, and it made her go into distress and they were going to do an emergency c-section. It was the scariest moment of my life, watching my wife in pain with our baby and there's me with all my years of being a cop, completely powerless and can't help her except to tell her I'm right beside her.'

'But she was okay?'

Esposito nodded. 'Harvey reached in and got Tessi turned, and they didn't have to slice and dice my wife, and Meredeth told me later that if I hadn't been there, keeping her attention she wouldn't have made it through in one piece. The point is, even when we as men think we're totally useless in situations like that, our women know just being there for them is one of the best things we can do.'

'It's true,' Ryan added. 'Dell, he was a totally natural birth, no pharmaceutical intervention whatsoever. I'm feeling, like, as helpful as celery in the birthing room, and there's Jenn telling me that she'd never seen a man so calm during a delivery.'

Hearing the birth stories, that these strong men, brothers in arms to Shane, had felt like grubby little worms only to hear their women thought they were superheroes, made him feel marginally better. But not by much, given the case that had just been dumped into their laps.

'I know she's worried too, that it will put a damper on our sex life. Alexis is scared that it might happen again, thinks maybe I won't want to touch her, risk getting her pregnant again.'

'Obviously that isn't true,' Esposito said, forgetting for a moment it was Castle's daughter they were talking about. 'You still love her and want her.'

'Well, duh,' Shane replied, and the playground moment had them all laughing, a much needed tension breaker. 'Just because we had this little hiccup doesn't mean anything has changed in how I see her. She's still the sexy, fiery woman I fell for and just wanna-'

'Okay, that's enough, Doctor Weaver. We're playing cards with Castle on Tuesday and I don't want to think about what you're doing to his little girl in the privacy of your own home,' Ryan teased him. 'It's bad enough I'll take the sight of Javi's naked ass humping and pumping on his wife to my grave, I don't need anymore brain space fried like that.'

'She's twenty-four,' Esposito reminded him, 'and you could have knocked.'

'Oh, please, bro, you wouldn't have heard a military parade go past your door that afternoon.'

'Says the guy who got his wife pregnant in a bathroom at a Hallowe'en party.'

'Children,' Shane chuckled, picking up his chopsticks and diving into his cashew chicken. He hadn't realized he was hungry - he and Alexis had eaten dinner around six and it was now past two - and the aroma of roasted nuts with pan-fried chicken and vegetables was tantalizing. 'Do I need to send you to the principal's office?'

'There we are, a little joke,' Esposito grinned, opening his carton of coconut and shrimp curry.

'Shouldn't you guys be back at the precinct, dealing with my mother?'

'Montgomery's orders. We are out of sight until the jurisdictional pissing contest is finished and Beckett let's us know the move. We have nothing open on the docket right now, so until we're summoned, we're hanging with you.'

'If you like, to make it feel more official, we can ask you about your friend's body, the condition and all that,' Ryan offered. 'Or you can tell us a little bit about how you knew him.'

'I'll take door two, Mister Trebek.' There was a shitload of paperwork he could be working on, but Shane knew it would keep until the guys were gone, and he knew they were there to make sure he was okay, so settling back into his chair, he absently scratched the spot on his left arm where underneath his lab coat and scrubs was a tattoo that read 'Never Forget' in Hebrew.

'You know military service is mandatory in Israel, right?' When they nodded, Shane continued, 'Usually it's two years after you turn eighteen, but I knew my mother was going to send me to school in the states so I did three years junior flight service through high school to knock off the time down to a single year.'

'Because of your mother?'

Shane snorted. 'Yeah, right. No, when I moved to Tel Aviv with my mother I was not interested in spending my university years in the middle of the desert flying helicopters. Anyways, when I went into the air force after high school, because I already had experience I was skipped through basic training and right into combat prep school. I met Yassir there, and we were pretty tight. After I was done my mandatory year, I came to the States and he stayed on and worked his way up through the ranks, then moved into the Mossad.'

'You guys didn't stay in touch?' Ryan asked conversationally.

'No, kinda hard to be friends with someone who's on the path to being an honest-to-goodness secret agent. You think James Bond ever stayed in touch with his drinking buddies once he went into the Double-Oh-Seven program?'

'Fair point.'

Esposito's cell chirped at him, and he picked up the incoming call after a quick glance at the ID. 'Esposito. Yeah. Okay, got it. We're at the morgue with Weaver right now, we'll ask him. Right, got it.'

'It's ours?' Ryan asked, glancing back longingly at his stir-fried tofu and veggies. If that was the case, snack time just went bust.

'Yep, but Montgomery agrees that since Shane knows the deceased it's much better for all involved if he hands it off.'

It was the proper thing to do, the doctor knew it was, but it didn't stop the grinding irritation. 'Alright, you want the preliminary report, or you want to wait until Lanie gets in at eight?'

'We'll take what you've got first.'

* * *

><p>By the time Shane made it home, he was exhausted. The emotional weight he'd been carrying with him the entire night, even after talking with the Ry-Sposito monster. He just wanted to crawl into bed, and hold his fiancee.<p>

When he opened the door, he was hit with the smell of cinnamon, coffee and some kind of breakfast meat. At the stove, Alexis was in her pyjamas and poking at slices of French toast in one pan and bacon in the other as she listened to an audiobook on the counter-top iPod dock.

'Hey Lexy,' he greeted her, and felt the fatigue drift into domestic bliss as Alexis glanced up and smiled softly at him.

'Hey, Shane. Long shift tonight?'

'Very.'

'Coffee's ready, if you want it. Decaf, since I know you want to sleep.'

'Yes, I do, but I also wanna do this.'

Shane walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissed her neck. 'We need to talk about something.'

'Oh God-'

'No, no, nothing bad about us,' he reassured her, and hated himself for creating even a flicker of doubt in her heart. 'No, this has to do with my job.'

'Oh. Okay, is your shift getting switched around while I'm off?'

'No. The body I was tagged on tonight, it was Yassir Lewertow.'

Alexis frowned in sympathy for her fiance. 'Oh, that's so sad. I'm sorry to hear that.'

'You know about my history with him, and that he worked in the same department as my mother.'

'Which means that your mother would be here, and be investigating the case as well, to determine if it was because of his job, or because of bad luck.' She rubbed a hand absently over her body. 'I know about bad luck.'

'Alexis, I know who killed him.'


	6. A Dark History

Beckett was staring at her murder board, trying not to let her thoughts circle to Shane and Alexis. She had to prove to Shir Weaver that just because she was local PD didn't mean she was a brain-dead toothless redneck.

She made a note under the time-line - they'd narrowed TOD to between eleven-thirty and midnight. The cops had arrived along with Shane around half-past midnight, and Shir was there no less than fifteen minutes later.

The guys had been out on canvass of the neighbourhood since seven thirty that morning, and now three hours later, they were due back for a briefing, and Beckett wasn't disappointed when the doors to the elevator slid open to see the Ry-Sposito monster walking off; Ryan headed to get them all coffee while Esposito came over to give her the update.

'So we talked to housekeeping, we talked to front desk staff, the guys in the surrounding buildings and turned up some interesting stuff.'

'Such as?'

'Well, for one, the front desk manager who was working last night is on her way down here to talk to us. And the manager gave me all records of phone calls routed to Yassir's room.'

'If he was staying at the hotel, it means he probably wasn't on assignment.' Beckett looked at her board, kept her eyes on it as she asked, 'Was he under his own name?'

'Yep, which makes me think when we update the captain and Shir, she will see this has nothing to do with his job.'

'Don't you mean Katsa?'

Beckett shook her head. 'Her name is Shir, her rank is 'katsa'. I looked it up. What?' she asked when Esposito gave her the wall-eye. 'Castle's not the only one who can know stuff.'

'Coffee, coffee, coffee,' Ryan announced, bringing over their mugs of caramel-cinnamon goodness. 'Where are we at?'

'You've got the front desk manager from last night coming down to give some information. What about CSU, his room at the hotel?'

'CSU is going over it right now, they'll report something when they have it.'

Beckett nodded, then frowned as she went over the inventory of personal effects found on Yassir's body that Lanie had forwarded. She scanned it, then looked up at the guys. 'Listen to this list. One cigarette lighter, silver plated. One pack cigarettes, half-empty. Three sticks Juicy Fruit gum. Wallet containing driver's license, various cards, his platinum Visa and his hotel keycard. One badge and identification card denoting his rank as a Mossad agent. What's missing?'

'Cellphone,' they chorused, and Esposito added, 'uniforms were looking for it last night, came up empty.'

'We'll ask Shir about it,' Beckett started, then straightened when Shane and Alexis stepped off of the elevator and approached them, hand in hand, and their eyes both dark with worry.

'Shane, Alexis, is everything okay?'

'Lex, we were sorry to hear what happened,' Ryan added, and gave her a supportive hug. 'How you feeling?'

'Better, but still inside out. A good fiance helps,' she replied with a little smile.

'Shane's one of the best,' Esposito said, repeating the hug Ryan gave the young woman. 'What brings you down here?'

'I think I know who did this to Yassir,' Shane said bluntly, and all three cops straightened up. 'Is there somewhere to talk privately?'

'Sure.'

They headed into a conference room, and Ryan brought in coffee for Shane, mild tea for Alexis. 'If you knew who the killer was last night, why did you wait until today to say anything?'

'I wanted..._needed_ to be sure, for myself, that I wasn't just jumping to conclusions, and...with my mother showing up...'

Alexis laid a delicate hand on Shane's shoulder, squeezed gently. 'Why don't you start at the beginning, the way you told me?'

The detectives all watched as Shane reached up, and covered Alexis' hand with his; it was such a subtle simple gesture, yet it spoke volumes about the kind of couple they were - this was more than a pair, this was a unit.

'His name is Eli. Eli Hudek. He was another guy I knew from the air force. You know I only did one year of service as an adult, right Detective?'

'Yes, you've mentioned it once or twice,' Beckett replied, turning on the mini-recorder she used for this kind of interview.

'His sister, Rachel, she was in the same combat training school as I was and we hit it off, got close.'

'You were lovers?'

'We were sexual partners. Fuck buddies, really,' Shane clarified; he knew what the difference was and the woman beside him was his lover. In his mind, he was the only real lover he'd ever had. ' I was barely eighteen and had only been with two other girls in my life, and here was this sexy older woman who just wanted my body. That's a heady thing to deal with at eighteen.'

'Sure is,' Ryan agreed, and Alexis' instinct to laugh made her feel a little bit better.

'Anyways, a lot of the guys didn't take too kindly to the idea that she was a girl and better than some of them at the helm of a chopper. They resented that she had tits - sorry, Lex - and could fly a bird like she was born doing it. They made threats against her, but they were the kind that were more pissy than vicious.'

'Like what?'

'Like buying all the Tampax at the exchange when they knew she needed them. Hanging her bras from the flag pole. Rachel was the only woman in our combat school, so it was natural enough for her to become the object of ridicule. Most of the guys thought she was alright, but there was a few who really hated the fact it was a female who had their six.'

Shane sighed, drank his coffee. Ryan had remembered he liked it with no cream and two sugar, he noted. 'Eli, her brother, he couldn't do much about it since he was in a different combat school than us, so he relied on me to keep an eye on her. Until...'

'Shane, it's okay,' Alexis murmured, her eyes filling up. She'd cried her eyes out when he told her this story the first time he'd woken up from having a nightmare about Rachel. Taking his free hand in hers, she held it tight and tried to smile. 'It's okay.'

'What happened bro,' Esposito asked in just as soft a tone.

'It was in late October. I was weeks away from being honorably discharged so I could go to school in the States. We were on a night-ops, training for survival in the event of a crash. Rachel and I, we were teamed up and we were in our downed chopper, working on maintaining a guard-line when a group of about six men or so appeared over a small rise. They were all in full cammo gear, totally unrecognizable.'

'Shane,' Beckett started, the friend threatening to take over, but the man shook his head.

'Please, Kate, I need to get this all out at once.'

'Okay.'

'I told them to identify themselves, and they didn't. One of them approached me and I couldn't engage the soldier because he hadn't fired his weapon at all, not even a discharge into the air. The guy advancing on me, he smacked me in the mouth with the butt of his rifle and I tried to yell at Rachel but I was seeing stars from that pistol-whipping. I must have blacked out because the next thing I knew, all I could hear was Rachel starting to scream for them to stop, screaming for me to get help, and I felt something on the back of my neck.'

Shane drew in a shaky breath as he came to the worst of it. 'They'd sicced one of their mooks on me, and he'd grabbed me by the back of the collar, and had a pistol at the base of my skull, and they...they made me watch them as they all took a turn with her. I tried to get away but the guy on me just tightened his grip and said 'It's for her own good'. God, I'll never forget that sound.'

Beckett swallowed deeply as she sipped her coffee, hoping the tears would stay in her head. A quick glance to Ryan and Esposito, and she could see them struggling with the same thing while their friend, so guarded about his past, continued to spill everything to them.

'They redressed her themselves and I thought that would be it, but then one of them got out a bat. An aluminum baseball bat,' Shane recalled with horridly vivid clarity. 'I remember thinking it was so shiny in the moonlight. They spread-eagled her face down and beat her to death. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do unless I wanted a bullet in the brain.'

'Dude,' was all Esposito could say in a low voice.

'I know after that, I passed out, because I remember waking up in the base hospital, and saw Yassir sitting beside my bed, and I heard someone yelling in grief. He told me it was Eli, that the doctors and Rachel's CO told him what had happened. I asked Yassir what Eli had been told, and he said that she'd died from friendly fire. There was no need to tell him the truth when it was for his own good.' Shane sighed. 'The way he said it, the look in his eyes as he did, told me everything I needed to know.'

'He was the one who'd held you hostage the night before,' Ryan deduced, and Shane nodded.

'Yeah, it was. I didn't understand it, didn't understand how he could have let that happen; he was friends with Rachel too. It's why the first time I saw him after that night was last night, with his head beaten in the same way Rachel had been killed that night.'

'And...you think it's Eli, Rachel's brother, who's taken revenge after nearly twenty years, that did this?' Beckett asked.

'Eli said he'd sworn to protect her, and he wouldn't rest until he'd made all the people involved pay for Rachel's death. He didn't care how long it took, he'd hunt them all down. And if you knew Eli Hudek, you'd know he's about as stubborn as shit on Velcro.'

They all chuckled a little at Shane's description and were immensely thankful for it. 'Like ugly on an ape?' Esposito suggested.

'Like white on rice,' Ryan agreed.

'Anyways...I think Eli found out Yassir's part in it and that's why he tracked him down, caved in his skull.'

'So what does that mean for you, Shane?' Beckett asked, concerned not only for the man's safety, but the potential danger it put Alexis in. 'You think Eli will come after you?'

'No. I don't think he will. When he saw I was in the hospital because I'd been knocked around and forced to watch, traumatized in teh mind more than the body, he said that the animals who raped and murdered his sister were the guilty ones. That I was forced to watch made me just as much a victim.'

'Mom.' Alexis spoke up; she'd been so quiet they'd almost forgotten she was there and had held Shane's hand the entire time. 'This isn't about me. This is about Shane, how he can still help your investigation.'

'You're right, Alexis.' Esposito cleared his throat, looked at Beckett. 'We bring Alexis into this, that makes this guy think we're scared, we're freaked and if he sees that, he'll either use it to his advantage and make Alexis and Shane both targets or he'll rabbit and go underground.'

'Eli would do both,' Shane told him. 'He was an excellent soldier, the kind that made Patton look like a slacker, and he knows how to disappear.'

There was a knock on the door, and the captain came in. His smooth mocha face was set in firm lines as he saw all of them there. 'Detectives, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but we have a very powerful foreign intelligence agency breathing down our necks. We don't have time for family tea.'

'Sir, Doctor Weaver came in to give us vital information to the case,' Beckett replied smoothly, 'and his fiancee came with him for moral support. As Detectives Ryan and Esposito are also investigators on this case, their presence was requisite during the interview.'

'I see. And does this have anything to do with the fact that it's Doctor Weaver's mother who's the rep for said agency during this investigation?'

'No sir. Nothing whatsoever to do with the family connection and everything to do with the nature of his relationship with the victim.'

'Very well then. Would you mind telling me what you told the detective, Doctor Weaver?' Montgomery asked, and his eyebrows winged up when Beckett shook her head.

'Sir, this is not something I'd ask Doctor Weaver...Shane, to repeat. Hearing once enough was difficult enough, and I'm sure despite this, and the fact his personal life is under duress as well, he will be as co-operative as he can in offering assistance to us on this case.'


	7. An Intimate Moment

'So now what?'

'Now what what?'

'What's the move? How do we go after him?'

Beckett looked at her detectives; Shane and Alexis had gone and they were once again on their own in the bullpen. 'We pursue the avenues the evidence takes us. Just because Shane believes this is what happened to his friend doesn't make it so.'

'But you have to admit, the evidence and his story are starting to line up,' Esposito pointed out. 'There's more than coincidence, he gave us motive and means for this guy.'

'And we could have a man telling us he knew Jack the Ripper because a couple of hookers his buddy used turned up dead.'

'Okay, that's fair, but come on, Beckett. Shane comes on a body that's an old friend with connections to dark parts of his past.

'Or...' Ryan trailed off, hedged his words. 'Are you just concerned that Shane's a target and by proxy so is Alexis.'

'I believe that Shane would do whatever was necessary to keep Alexis from harm, even if it meant his life for hers,' Beckett replied honestly. 'And we, as sworn officers and servants of New York City, will make sure it doesn't come to that.'

'So what's the move?' Esposito repeated.

'Goose CSU, especially the tech guys to see if we can get anything on . And get every last drop out of your wit who's coming down to talk to you.'

'Where are you going?' Ryan asked as she picked up her coat.

'To see a mother-to-be about a corpse.'

* * *

><p>Lanie was mos-def a mother to be these days, heavy in the belly and bust at five months pregnant with her third baby. The bulb of her little bundle of joy bumped up under her scrub top and she was back to wearing her surgical masks to ensure she wouldn't inhale any substances that would harm Carey and Violet's sibling-to-be.<p>

'Hey, mama,' Beckett greeted her warmly, and Lanie immediately withdrew her hands from the chest cavity she was deconstructing. The pathologist peeled off her gloves, rounded her autopsy table to give Beckett a hug; the bump reached Beckett before Lanie's arms did and Beckett found herself steadying her friend's balance. 'Easy, tiger.'

'I heard about everything from Dave, how are you? How's Rick and Alexis and Shane?'

'They're all okay, they are trying to get back to normal as best as they can. What can you tell me about Yassir Lewertow?'

'COD is the skull fracture to the head. Sent scrapings over to the lab on a rush, and they came back tinted aluminum, the kind you find on your everyday baseball bat.'

'Son of a bitch, he was right,' she murmured, which had Lanie raising an eyebrow.

'What?'

'Shane came by the station, said he was fairly certain he knew who did this,' Beckett said and related the tale Shane had recounted to them all. Being hormonally charge thanks to her baby, Lanie couldn't control her tears and pressed the back of her hand to her cheeks.

'That p-poor young man,' she sniffled, and reached for a tissue before sitting down on a comfortable chair. 'Oh, did Alexis know already or is she dealing with it on top of what happened to her?'

'No, she already knew. I have no idea when or how it came up, but from what I could tell it wasn't news to her as Shane told myself, Espo and Ryan. What else can you tell me about the body?'

'He hadn't been drugged, and his last meal consisted of spinach and cheese ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce, some kind of fizzy orange beverage and a small glass of white wine. His fingernails were recently manicured and he got a couple of shots in on his attacker.'

'Any chance of finding a match on the owner of that DNA?'

'Running it through every last possible database we can think of as we speak.' Lanie sighed, rubbed her hand in circles over her belly. 'Now listen you, Mama's working and talking to Auntie Katie about grown-up police business. How about we save our exercises until after lunch, okay?'

'Are you reprimanding a foetus?'

'No, just let this little one know that it's my turn to get the attention, his or her turn is later.'

Beckett laughed. 'Okay then. Any other details you can think of?'

'He didn't suffer, he was unconscious from the first blow. Took about six to beat his skull in like that.'

'Six.' One for every one of the men responsible for Rachel's death, she mused. 'Thanks Lanie.'

'Anytime, you know where to find us.'

* * *

><p>As Beckett was getting the details from Lanie about Yassir's death, Alexis was downtown in her apartment with Shane, indulging in a bubble-bath while he chatted to her, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet.<p>

'That was very brave what you did at the precinct, Shane,' she told him, combing wet fingers through her hair.

'Doesn't feel like it.'

'I was raised by a man whose job is to tell stories, not all of them neat and pretty and polished, and I learned at his hand what the difference is between bravery and bravado.'

'What's the difference.'

'Dad always said bravado was walking up to the school bully and calling him a sissy, and brave was telling the principal the school's most popular quarterback cheated off your test to make his grade on the football scholarship.'

'Richard Castle is a wiseman, even if he does steal police horses naked.' Shane frowned. 'How'd that even happen?'

'My father plus a lot of tequila multiplied by the square root of an old college friend's dare.'

'I think I get the picture. Wildest thing I ever did off of a college dare was dress up in women's underwear and run through a genetics lecture screaming 'No more test monkeys!' Actually it wasn't so much a dare as it was a rush prank for Kappa Eta Lambda.'

'Did you get in?'

Shane shook his head. 'Sadly, I had to make do with the lowly Beta Upsilon Rho.'

'Ah, yes, the lowly Burps,' Alexis laughed, referred to the pet name of Shane's university fraternity that happened to be one of the most exclusive groups in New York tertiary educational institutions. She stirred the water over her stomach, nibbled her lip. 'Shane?'

'Yes Alexis.'

'I want to have a little party.'

'A party?'

'Nothing big and gut-busting, just like some people over for dinner. Maybe have a few drinks and a board game or two.'

'Sure, sounds great. I'm off now, this week anyways.'

She glared at him. 'Shane, I thought I said no acting like I'm some fragile little flower-'

'Actually, this was Pearlmutter saying that I should take the week since my friend was in the morgue and my mother was in town.'

'Oh.'

'It's okay, Lex, I understand what you mean. And I think having people over is a good step. Who did you have in mind?'

'Sloan, maybe Body and Faisal.'

'Faisal is out of town, but I know Body's excited you're home, he was hoping we'd get together with Jeremy for beer and wings and pool.'

'We can do that too,' Alexis nodded, making the water _swish-swish_ as she shifted her legs. She'd shaved them and they felt smooth and silky now, so that when Shane ran his hands over them, her blood would bubble and simmer. 'But I'd like to have them over for dinner.'

'Cool. Just when you tell Sloan one of my friends will be here, make sure she knows it's not a fix-up, okay?' Shane wrinkled his nose. 'Last time I tried to invited a female friend to dinner, she spent the whole night hitting on poor Body and he didn't have the heart to tell the woman he was queer as a three-dollar bill.'

'Noted. Does Body know you talk about him like that?'

'He's the one who said that, sweetie, I'm just quoting him.' Shane watched her reach forward and flip the lever to drain the tube. When she stood up all dripping and soapy, he had to swallow a little deeper - one of his favourite turn-ons with his girlfriend was watching her dry herself after a bath. The way her eye closed as her hands pressed the cotton to her body so intimately made his blood pressure rise up, not to mention other parts of his anatomy too. She wasn't even meaning to be sensual and that carelessness about it was what drove Shane wild in the first place.

Alexis opened her eyes as she wrung out her hair and she chuckled at Shane's expression. 'Hello, Doctor,' she purred seductively.

'Man, why you gotta say it like that Alexis?' he replied in a voice dangerously close to a whine. 'You know we can't do the deed until next Friday.'

'And I promise, we will screw our brains out.'

'But that's so far away. And you're all pink and perfect and smelling good now.' Shane wiggled his eyebrows, winked at his fiancee. 'You could always applaud me?'

'I could what you?'

'You know...give me a hand.'

Alexis groaned as she stepped out of the tub with her hand in his for steadying weight. 'That is a horrible, horrible pun, Doctor.'

'It's a wonder you ever fell in love with me, huh?'

She smiled at him, then sniffled a little. 'Oh, dammit dammit. Stupid post-partum hormones.'

Shane rose up, hugged her close. He was used to handling Alexis' hormones since she could have some really..._interesting,_ he decided decided, PMS moments. What he wasn't prepared for was what she said next.

'I should be the one taking care of you.'

'What?'

'With your friend dying and all.' Alexis looked at him with large blue eyes. 'I'm just fine, honey, or I will be, but...how are you doing with everything?'

'It's so complicated Alexis, well you know, you've known the story for awhile now.'

'Yeah I do remember.'

It was hard to forget the devastating nightmare he'd woken from in a cold sweat just one night after they'd survived their ordeal of flying home from England together the previous November. He'd been calling out for Rachel in his sleep, and when Alexis had pointed this out to him, he'd broken down and told her everything in a fit of tearful embarrassment that he'd kept something so important from her nearly a year into their relationship. Alexis had simply told him not everything is shared on the first date, and he never told her an outright lie about it, so he had nothing to be stressed about. It had completely humbled Shane and he'd spent a good fifteen minutes with her arms around his as he cried at all of the memories the nightmare had revived.

'So,' she sighed lightly, 'you still want that hand?'

'When it's yours, always.'

* * *

><p>They lay together naked in their bed, and Alexis had to admit, this was a little bit of a silver lining - the new bed was nice and firm, and the linens they'd picked out weren't too shabby either; they were still fitting Shane's preferred tropics-in-the-boudoir theme in that they were a nice light blue with sailboats in silhouette against the sun.<p>

Alexis had given him that intimacy he was craving, the kind they'd been looking forward to all throughout the two weeks of her midterms, and while it wasn't nearly as much fun since she didn't get a turn yet Alexis knew that the simple act of touching like that was essential to their keeping their intimacy.

Now they lay facing each other, Shane's steady hand tracing over her soft, bare shoulder. 'I love you so much Alexis,' he murmured, pulling her in for a kiss and holding her close so her head nestled against his shoulder.

'I love you right back, Shane.'

'I want you to know that I am not putting any pressure on you about resuming our intimacy. You need time to heal mentally too.'

'Thank you.'

'I mean it, Alexis,' he said emphatically. 'I don't want you thinking I'm insensitive to what you're going through, that I'm some kind of caveman who just wants his woman's ass, you know?'

'I understand what you're trying to do, but I don't want to put off having sex because of a what-if. Then again, I don't want you to feel like I'm rushing into it so that I can just forget about it.'

'Hard to find that line, huh?'

Alexis nodded. 'Very. Can I be baby spoon?'

'Sure.'

She rolled over so her back pressed into his chest and she picked up his hand, kissed the fingertips before she laid it gently between her breasts so he could feel her heartbeat. 'I'm here, my love,' she said softly. 'Healthy and whole.'


	8. A Night of Love

_Hello all! Once again, thank you to all of you and your lovely reviews, favourites, and alerts! This story was much more an experiment to me in the Crumbsverse, as it tends to be a more sunny place but I really wanted to tell this one, and I'm so thrilled you are loving it too! Pass the word, share the love!_

* * *

><p>When Beckett arrived home, she wanted three things - a cold beer, a kiss from her son, and some very hot sex from her husband, and she wondered what order she might get them in. It didn't matter to her which one came first, just that she got them all.<p>

The first, it seemed, would be the kiss from RJ. He was in his pjs and sitting on the couch with Martha as they read a story together, and both glanced up at the sound of Beckett's arrival home.

'Mumum! You home!' RJ scrambled off the sofa and raced to his mother, gave her a crushing hug around the knees. 'Baddies in 'link?'

'In what?'

'In 'link. Tizzy say go 'link.'

'Oh, the _clink_,' Beckett chuckled and scooped up her precious boy. Some days she was amazed that this charming creature, so full of life and exuberance, had come from her body. 'You've been spending too much time at the Esposito house, I do believe.'

'Like it. My Tah-rini there.'

'Of course. Just like your daddy, not even out of diapers and already chasing the ladies.' Martha shook her head, went to the kitchen. 'Darling, are you in the mood for a little grape or something with hops and yeast?'

'The second one.'

'Beer it is.'

'Mumum.' RJ poked at his mother's shoulder with his index finger. 'Lessis better?'

'Yes, she's doing much better honey.'

'Shan' wash out?'

'Of course Shane's watching out for her. He loves her.'

'Young man,' Martha addressed her grandson. 'What was the deal we made?'

Beddie-bye affer see Mumum.'

'That's right.'

Now RJ used every last drop of charm he'd inherited from his father and batted dark blue eyes at his mother. 'Mumum, I good.'

'I'm sure you were great for your Grams, but a deal is a deal.'

'Like pomis?'

'Exactly like a promise. Where's Omeo?'

'Up-tairs. He waitin'.'

'Then let's go find him.

After cuddling with her son and tucking him into bed with his beloved rabbit, Beckett went downstairs to find a chilled beer waiting for her on the counter, top already twisted off. She picked it up, clinked glasses with Martha as they walked over to the living room. 'Where's my other manly Castle man?'

'Out getting pizza. He knows it's your comfort food after a long day.'

'Long doesn't even begin to cover it.'

Beckett set her beer on the table, remembering the coaster, and flopped backwards so she was staring at the ceiling as she talked to her mother-in-law. 'Shane and Alexis stopped by the precinct to completely fuck with our minds.'

'What?' was all Martha could say, bewildered.

'Long, complicated and very depressing story I don't want to relive, but the upshot is that Shane and Alexis are facing some serious down time right now.'

'Well, not everything is peaches and roses, my dear. You know that, and you've been in love with my son for nearly eight years.'

Beckett's brow furrowed and she turned her head to look at Martha. 'We've only been together for six.'

'Yes, like I said, eight years.'

The door opened, and Beckett sat up like a zombie as the smell of cheese, tomatoes and olive oil came in with the wintery scent of her husband. She grinned widely, and got up to give him a kiss as he set the boxes of pizza on the island. 'Hey handsome,' she said in a voice a little more sultry than she'd intended with Martha in earshot.

'Hello yourself. Thought you might like this after the kind of day you had,' Castle said warmly, eyes soft with love. He knew how much his wife was hurting between Alexis' surprise hospital visit and then the news Shane had dropped that morning for the investigation. It wouldn't happen until after the case was closed, but he knew that she would break wide open and let out every last little morsel of grief she carried with her on this one. 'I called Alexis and Shane on the way to get the pies, asked if they wanted to come over for a bite, but Lex said she was making dinner for Shane there. She's basically doing what I am now, you know, giving Shane his comfort food.'

'Not surprised, they take care of each other.'

'Agreed.' Martha toasted them with her chardonnay, wandered over to inspect the selections for dinner. 'Everyone seems so surprised by them getting together, and now you can't imagine them with anyone else. Reminds me of another pair I know.'

She saw them smile at each other, and being a wise woman drained her glass. 'As much as I would love to stay and chat, I know that look. It's time to make myself scarce so you two can enjoy each other.'

Beckett felt a little embarrassed the fact she wanted to do her husband was so obvious to her mother-in-law, but as Martha was already heading out the door and locking it behind her, she also wasn't going to complain.

'So...Mother is gone, RJ's in bed, and we have the house to ourselves.' Castle wiggled his eyebrows. 'Whatever shall we do with ourselves?'

'I know what I'd like to do with you.'

'Oh?'

'I was thinking it about the entire way home tonight.'

Beckett stretched to her tip-toes and kissed his lips. 'Pizza can wait my love.'

She took his hand and led him upstairs to their room where she shut the door; she knew they had utter privacy for making love, but something about the day she'd had made Beckett want to be in their bed tonight. Closing the door, she turned around and saw Castle was already stripping off socks, belt, and she crossed to him, began to tug at the hem of his cashmere sweater. It landed in a puddle over her shoulder; she ran her hands over his arms, his chest that he'd let grow a little bit fuzzy this winter. The feel of it under her fingertips had her blood thrumming.

Then he was pulling at the buttons of her blouse, feeling her skin and the power of it. Castle found his wife beneath the simple cotton, his warrior woman who was still so delicate here with him. He dipped his head, tasted the curve of her shoulder - one of his favourite spots on her body - and her sigh made him groan.

'Kate, how do you want it to be tonight?' he murmured.

'Now. I need to be with you now.'

Castle would take her at her word, and he reached behind her back, flicked the hooks of her bra open to let the silk fabric slide between them. His hands were filled with her breasts, his thumbs were scraping her nipples to elicit a soft cry from her. She was no longer Detective Beckett tonight, she was just Kate with him, he thought, watching those sea-goddess eyes go dreamy. He brushed his lips over hers as those clever and busy hands fumbled at his belt, dragged his zipper down, and his had to grit his teeth when those hands dipped beneath the silk boxers he wore.

'That's one way to do it,' he muttered as she neither gripped nor stroked him, just lay the length of her palm against him, and Beckett felt him shift and grow beneath her touch. 'But two can play that game.'

Beckett's belly fluttered wildly as her husband pulled at the pants she wore as well, so like him she was standing in nothing but her bottoms before him. Gripping her arm and turning her so she could feel the growth of him against her back, he traced the tips of his index and middle fingers down her body; he started at the apple of her cheek, down over her breasts and the not-as-flat-as-it-was-pre-RJ belly, down to the edge of her panties before sliding under and finding her already damp for him. The feel of his fingers against that wetness had her back arching, her hand falling away from him as he began to stroke her, creating a delicious rhythm of friction.

'I've always thought your hands were magic,' Beckett murmured, leaning back and finding his mouth, speaking between the sticky lingering kisses he planted.

'Bed,' Castle replied. As much as he loved that he had a wife and lover who was as adventurous as he was with new places to have sex, their marital bed was still one of his favourite spots, as they could sprawl comfortably and he could wrap that delicious body around his.

Sliding away his hand, he turned her and boosted her up onto his hips under her bottom, and dropped them both onto the mattress. Castle took a moment to look at her, grin. 'You're very sexy, Detective.'

'Even with the extra flab from RJ that won't go away?'

'Just reminds me of the fact you had my baby, and that,' he told her, leaning to whisper it in her ear like a secret, 'gets me all a-tingle.'

Beckett grinned, then trailed off as she closed her eyes, made a cradle for the manliness of him between her thighs as he kissed her. Her breath shuddered out in a long stream as those wonderful, magical hands slid up her legs to inch her panties down until she kicked them away. Then she was gasping and crying out as his mouth trailed over the inside of her thigh up, up, up, until he found the honeypot and went to work on her.

As the orgasm shuddered through her, Castle thought vaguely about the condoms in the bedside drawer and despite what had just happened to his daughter and her fiancee, he decided to forgo them. Kate needed him, not him wrapped in latex and she was on good birth control post-RJ. It was gone when he moved up her body, saw her face. All the love, the lust for him and him alone had him lifting her hips and with a little manoeuvring, he was inside her.

'God, Rich,' she sighed, hooking her long legs over his hips. 'Gimme.'

'Greedy.'

They moved together, lost and oblivious to everything but the other's scent and sound and touch. They rolled, nipping and suckling and feasting until Castle felt Beckett go limp in his arms and a few minutes later he found the same glorious release.

Chests heaving, skin sticky with sweat, Beckett lay sprawled on her husband with her lips against his shoulder. 'Thanks for getting pizza,' she murmured.

'That's a hell of a tip for delivery.'

'Think it's still warm?'

'Oh, so that's how it goes?' Castle chuckled, pressed his hand between her shoulder-blades. 'Okay, you've had your way with me, now time for a snack?'

'More like, that was a fun first round, how about we recuperate and refuel and try for round two?'

'Now that sounds just peachy.' But he could still see the worry in her eyes, and he tapped her forehead. 'But first, either tell me what's on your mind or I'll yank it out of you.'

'Oh, very very dirty boy.'

'Kate.'

'Okay. I'm worried about Alexis and Shane.'

He rolled his eyes. 'And anvils go thud.'

'Not them as a couple, I know they'll make it through this, but...I'm worried for them as individuals, that Shane is grieving his friend, and that Alexis is trying to not feel like a failure as a woman that she had a miscarriage. Those aren't things that you fix overnight.'

'No, they're not,' Castle agreed, then kissed her brow. 'But they will help fix each other. Just like we fix each other.'

'Don't flatter yourself, Richard. You didn't fix me. I wasn't a broken toy.'

'Do you recall what you told me after the Coonan case?'

Beckett pursed her lips; she'd secretly hoped he'd let that one go. 'That you make my job more fun.'

'See? You weren't having any fun even though you love being a cop, and that is something I fixed. Just like you fixed something in me?'

'And what was that?'

'That love at first sight can happen, and that it can grow into something magically extraordinary.'

Touched to the core by his reply, Beckett pressed her lips to his gently, then cuddled against his chest. 'I love you too.'

'And I...really hate whoever that is,' Castle groaned as her cellphone signaled. 'Tell that inconsiderate creep you just finished getting laid and the night is still young, that a second and possibly third helping could be in your future.'

'It's Montgomery,' Beckett told him after a glance at the caller ID.

'And there goes seconds.'

Beckett just shook her head, answered the call. 'Good evening, sir.'

'Kate, I know you're not on the roll tonight but I need you down here at my office as quickly as possible, regarding the Lewertow case.'

'Sir-'

'At the request of Shir Weaver, from one professional to another.'

'All right. I'll be there shortly.'


	9. A Discussion

The bullpen was quiet, quite unusual even though it was barely nine. That it was Sunday didn't matter; cop work was cop work. Beckett saw the single light in the captain's office and wasn't sure what to think about the situation. An international agent who was also the mother of her daughter's fiance. That was more than a little complicated, and that wasn't factoring the personal hell Alexis and Shane were coping with at present. Talk about bad timing.

She knocked on the door, opened it. 'Sir?' she politely, calmly, and saw Shir sitting in one of the chairs while Montgomery sat behind the desk.

'Beckett, come in please.' Montgomery motioned her in, and Beckett shut the door behind her. She took off her service weapon since it was more comfortable to sit without it digging into her hip-bone. 'I know this is rather unusual but Katsa Weaver has asked to speak with you.'

'Katsa Weaver.'

'Please, call me Shir.'

The woman's soft tone made Beckett more than a little edgy. She'd dealt with more than her fair share of honey-voiced vipers. 'Shir.'

'I hope I can call you Kate, seeing as you are my son's future mother-in-law, even though you're only a year older than him. When we spoke on-scene, I didn't put it together since you don't use your married name on the job,' Shir explained, and Beckett understood for the time being it wasn't the agent she was speaking to, but the mother; this was the woman who had raised Shane. 'I've been invited for dinner to their apartment on Thursday, and I hope you'll relay it to Alexis that I'm not out to be a monster-in-law.'

'I do have one question.'

'Of course.'

'Will you expect Alexis to convert for Shane, and raise their future children in your faith?'

'That is a question I hadn't even thought of yet. I want to meet her first, see if she's right for him.'

'I can assure you, there is no better match for Shane than Alexis. But I highly doubt you interrupted my...my night at home,' Beckett caught herself, 'to discuss the relationship with your son and my daughter with my captain.'

'Katsa Weaver has come to us with a rather complicated situation regarding your investigation, Detective,' Montgomery said, choosing his words carefully. 'I must ask you to hear her out first, entirely.'

Beckett sat back, propped her chin on her partially-closed fist. 'I'm all ears.'

'Your pursuit of the man my son told you about, Eli Hudek, is more than a simple revenge murder.'

Shir picked up a thick file and passed it to Beckett, who opened it to see the ID photo of a heavy-lidded young woman with a slightly crooked nose and sharp facial bones. 'This was Rachel Hudek, a friend and sometimes bed partner of Shane's.'

'Shane told us the story,' she started, then stopped when Shir shook her head.

'He told you his side of the story, but like history, nothing is ever so straight-lined. Yes, they were in combat school together, and what happened was tragic, but it was no more than she deserved.'

'What?'

'Rachel Hudek wasn't just a soldier. She was an agent under my purview and she became a mole for the Syrians. Her task was to get close to Shane, then put him into a compromising position as a way to get to me.'

'She was a spy, a counter-agent?' Beckett asked, to clarify, and then the puzzle pieces of what Shane had told her only that morning - god, it felt like a lifetime ago - began to shift into place. An icy sickness crawled into her belly. 'You ordered those soldiers to take Rachel out.'

Shir nodded, hung her head. 'I had two of my men watching out for Shane, and when I saw how infatuated he was with her, I knew whatever measures had to be taken to silence Rachel would have to be brutal so that he wouldn't have any way to interfere.'

'Yassir was yours too.'

'Yes. I'd assigned Rachel and Yassir to look out for Shane. I knew the Syrians were trying to get to me since I hold such a key position in the agency, and I knew they'd try to use him. It broke my heart to find out their spy was one of my own people, one of the people I'd charged with my only child's safety.'

'You had those soldiers, those men.

'No. That...that, I left to Yassir. He forged a letter amongst the men that couldn't stand Rachel that there was a plan to do finally something about the bitch. I didn't know until after Rachel was dead what they'd done to her, that you have to believe,' Shir said earnestly. 'I would never order my men to rape and murder and destroy.'

'Yet you have no compunction about having an agent silenced,' Beckett countered.

'Like I said,' Montgomery reminded them both, 'complicated.'

'So what does this have to do with my investigation?' she asked, shifting in her seat as Shir sighed.

'Your killer is Eli Hudek, we can both agree on this, but I need to ask you to back off. Eli knows the trouble he's facing here, and I would prefer that he be taken into my custody, alive, for debriefing.'

'Yeah, because we just love stringing up the foreigners from the Statue of Liberty and using our six-shooters on them. Esposito's pretty good, and Ryan, you'd think he was born with Colt-45's in his chubby little baby hands.'

Montgomery had to swallow tightly to avoid laughing at Beckett's dry sarcasm. 'Detective,' he warned her.

'This man is a highly trained agent, he knows how to go underground and not leave so much as a used Kleenex in his wake,' Shir continued. 'If he even thinks you're closing in, you'll never see him, and I need him in Tel Aviv. Alive.'

'I don't understand why you keep making that emphasis, Katsa Weaver.'

'Eli Hudek's specialty was weapons. He was good with guns, knives, grenades, and was trained on how to make explosives and other incendiaries with simple every day items.'

'You're making him sound like Tyler Durden.'

'Who?'

Now it was Beckett who smothered the instinct to laugh. 'An anarchical character from a popular book. And we have bomb experts who-'

'He was also trained in mixed martial arts with particular focus in krav maga and capoiera. If your detectives and uniformed officers even made it past the explosives, you would need to have someone highly skilled in hand-to-hand to so much as get the wristlets on him.'

'You mean cuffs?'

'Right. English word popped out of my mind.' Shir set Rachel's dossier aside. 'The most important thing in all of this is that Shane does not know about it.'

'Excuse me?'

'Shane never found out the truth of who Rachel was, and I want to try with all my might to keep it that way.'

'No.' Beckett shook her head. 'No, I can't allow that.'

Shir looked slightly affronted. 'Detective-'

'You want to keep your son in the dark on something he deserves to know the truth about. You might think it's protecting him, but the reality is when he finds out about this, and these things always see the light of day, it will crush him. Not just the knowing that Rachel wasn't who he thought she was, but the fact that you lied to him.'

'Shir, I have to agree with my detective on this.' Montgomery stood up, rounded his desk to sit on its edge while the women remained seated. 'Your son and her daughter are planning a life together, and I believe along with her that keeping them both in the dark on this matter would be devastating.'

'Captain, I appreciate the fact you are wanting to keep these matters in house, but my son - Doctor Weaver - he took a long time to get past Rachel's death, and to tell him...I fear it would

'And how you feel if you son found out from Eli himself, if there was some kind of confrontation?' Beckett replied steadily. 'There is no easy way to handle this, none whatsoever. And as someone who is deeply invested in Shane's well-being, as well as someone who has had to learn the hard way about a loved one's death, answers may cause pain, but they are a hell of a lot better than not knowing.'

''What about my other detectives, Shir?' Montgomery asked bluntly. 'How can I expect them to trust Detective Beckett if they aren't apprised of the situation? On top of which they are friends with Shane, they will be just as angry that he was deceived.'

Shir sighed and for a moment in the low light of Montgomery's office, Beckett suddenly saw an aged mother facing the struggle all mothers faced - spare their child pain or be honest with them when the two were not a symbiotic relationship.

'Alexis, she's young,' Shir murmured. 'We haven't even met formally, and I would be breaking my son's heart, leaving her with the mess to clean up.'

'Shir, call your son and you visit him, tonight, so you can talk to him. I'll be speaking to my husband as well, and perhaps towards the end of the week, you can come for a family dinner at our house.'

'That's kind of you, thank you.' Shir accepted the invitation and let her shoulders slump a little. 'Alexis sounds like a lovely young woman, and I'm ashamed that this is the situation that gives us the opportunity to meet for the first time. Chaim is just delighted that Shane found a young woman like her.'

'Alexis is one in a million.'

'You must have been quite young when you had her.'

'Acutally, she's my step-daughter, but we don't use words like that in our family. I'm Mom and she's my daughter.'

'That's a beautiful relationship.'

'It has its moments like any other relationship, but we can talk about that later, I want to discuss my position in regards to this information.' Beckett leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. 'Shir, I am a sworn officer of the law for this city, a duty and responsibility I do not take lightly. I need to be able to pursue this matter without interference or else it needs to fall directly under your purview in the realm of an international investigation.'

'You know it's Eli Hudek you're looking for,' Shir replied just as calm a tone, 'and I will offer two of my men to give you whatever you need in regards to trying to find him. When you are ready to make an arrest, all I ask is that you inform me so that Eli may have whatever considerations are necessary as an international agent.'

'He has diplomatic immunity-'

'Which has been temporarily suspended at my request.'

'Very well, then.'

Montgomery looked at Beckett. 'Detective, is this something you're willing to agree to?'

'Yes, I can agree to those terms.'

'Then, Katsa Weaver, inform your men they will report to my office at seven-thirty tomorrow morning,' the captain said firmly, and both women nodded. 'In the meantime, Shir, I suggest you go find Doctor Weaver and update him on the situation.'

* * *

><p>'I don't get it, how can the system just let that vicious, cold-blooded shark out of the tank?'<p>

'That's why Eve Dallas is on the case, Shane, to make sure the bitch goes down.'

Shane chuckled, wrapped his arm around Alexis' waist. They'd indulged themselves with a nice, quiet evening at home and were drinking margarita slushies while they watched the season 4 premier of _Dallas Lieutenant Eve_ on DVD, and to his way of thinking, they just might be able to indulge further and go for a little touchy-touchy when the disc ran dry. Alexis' bleeding had stopped before he'd gone to work the night before, and though he knew it probably wouldn't happen the fact she wanted to was a step towards healing.

'Do you know anytime I hear the theme song for this show it makes me think of you?'

'Really?'

'Yep. Sometimes I'll put it on in the background while I'm prepping for court when I'm really missing you.'

'Aww, what a softie.'

'Then, of course, when I look at my personal photos, I get all hot and bothered, and then call you up for Skype sex.'

'You're gross, but I still love you.' Alexis, who had been making a pillow out of Shane's lap, lifted herself up and pecked at his lips, ending on a note of confusion when the intercom buzzed. 'Were you expecting anyone?'

'No, I wasn't. I'll see who it is.'

With a light groan, Shane went to the intercom, pressed the button. 'Yeah?'

'Scheine? It's me.'

Shane blinked at the sound of his mother's voice. 'What are you doing here?'

'I need to speak with you about a few things regarding the case. May I come up?'


	10. A Devastation

'Is this a joke, Shane? Did you do this on purpose so I wouldn't be nervous for Thursday?'

Alexis glared at her fiancee with frigid blue eyes as she chewed her thumbnail, and for a moment, Shane got a preview of just what she might be like when they had babies.

'No, honey, believe me, this is news to me too.'

'Don't call me honey like that,' she snapped, then took a short, deliberate breath. 'I'm sorry. Hormones.'

'I know, Lex.'

Shane gave her a kiss, stroked her cheek. 'Would you feel better if you wore something that wasn't your comfies?'

'This is my home - our home - and I won't stand on ceremony when she turns up unannounced after she booted you from the case.'

'I removed myself from the case,' he corrected her, 'because it was the right thing to do, even without my mother's involvement. It would have looked very suspicious.'

There was a knock on the door, and Alexis felt her muscles tense. 'I can do this,' she murmured as Shane opened the door, and she saw the woman on the other side. 'Shir, it's so nice to meet you, I'm Alexis Castle.'

'And you as well, though I think it could have been better circumstances.' Shir looked the young woman over. Tall, thin but not sickly so, long red hair and blue eyes. A beauty with a porcelain complexion and small smudges of fatigue dogging under the eyes. Shir wondered what it said about her standards that she was perversely happy to see her future daughter-in-law slightly exhausted with obvious worry for Shane; she worried right along with him. 'I hope I haven't caught you at an inopportune time.'

'No, we were just having a drink and enjoy the tranquility. It's been a hectic few days,' Shane replied, then helped his mother with her coat. 'Would you like coffee? I'm sorry I have no Mountain Dew, I wasn't going to do the grocery shop for your visit until tomorrow.'

'Coffee is fine. Shane mentioned you're on your mid-semester break, Alexis, how is it going so far?'

'Okay, just trying to unwind is a task unto itself,' Alexis replied, sitting at the kitchen table and was relieved when Shir joined them. 'You said you had something to discuss with us regarding the case?'

'Yes, but...perhaps it would be best if you weren't here to hear it.'

'Mother.' Shane switched to Hebrew to drive his point home. 'Alexis is my fiancee, she is aware of my past with Rachel, Yassir and Eli, and I won't have you treating her like a child just because she's a little younger than me.'

'I'm sorry, you're right.'

'Lex, I apologize for that,' Shane said, switching back to English as he programmed the coffee and sat between the two most important women in his life. 'It's very rude to do that when you don't speak the language.'

'I'll learn.'

'So, what's this about, Mom?'

Shir said nothing in response at first, just reached into her portfolio and pulled out the dossier on Rachel, put it on the table. 'Shane, I'm sure you're figured it out that Eli is still seeking retribution for his sister, biding his time so that it would hit the victim's family the hardest. Yassir, he had a wife and three children at home.'

'Oh, no.' Alexis brushed her fingertips over her lips. 'Have they been informed yet?'

'Yes, I spoke with them Sunday morning. But there is something else.'

'You think he's coming after me? Mom, we talked about that, Eli doesn't hold me responsible.' Shane shook his head.

'No, nor should he. It's...it's hard to tell you this, but Rachel isn't who you thought she was.'

'What, she was a secret agent or something?'

It was intended to be a joke, but when Shir said nothing, just clamped her lips together, Alexis automatically went to reach for Shane's hand. He took it, lacing their fingers together.

'Mom? She was an agent?' Shane repeated.

'She was a mole for the Syrians, Scheine,' Shir said softly, and every fibre of her being wanted to comfort her son as she watched his face cloud with hurt, with confusion.

'That's despicable, she'd never do anything like that.'

'Scheine, I'm so sorry, but it's true. She was assigned to you as a protection detail on my orders, after we learned that the Syrians had a mole who was going to use you to get to me, and it turned out that she _was_ the mole.'

'No. No!' Shane dropped Alexis' hand, shot up from his chair and paced the space in front of the refrigerator. 'No, no that can't be true, I couldn't have...she was my first...and...oh, fuck...Mom, please tell me it's not true.'

'I'm sorry, Scheine, truly I am.'

Red-faced, chest heavy as he struggled for breath, Shane turned around and braced his hands against the refrigerator as he tried to get it straight in his head. The first woman he'd ever had sex with, his friend and sometimes bed partner, was a fucking traitor who would have sold him out to the Syrians if she'd gotten the word. He'd shared part of himself with her, part that he'd given to her thinking he could trust her. It was a lie, all of it, all those intimate moments they'd shared, those times he'd stood up for her when she'd been harassed by the other unenlightened pigs who only wanted women for sex and laundry detail.

And what did it matter now? She'd been dead for nearly twenty years, beaten and raped and bludgeoned to death by...

He turned around, looked his mother cold in the eye as his stomach churned acid. 'You ordered them to do that to her. You ordered those men to kill Rachel after they'd violated her body like that.'

'No, that was not to be part of it, Scheine, please believe me. I told Yassir-'

'Yassir?'

'Yes. He was the other agent I assigned to keep an eye on you after we learned about the potential threat.'

'Yassir was yours then?' Shane's face was contorted into a furious mask of raging grief but his eyes stayed clear on his mother's face. 'So, it was all a lie, every last bit of it was just another calculation on your part to reach your own goals of finding your mole. And what did you think when you found out it was the older woman your son was fucking every now and then?'

'I thought you were eighteen and too blinded by your hormones to give her anything, and it turned out I was right,' Shir replied evenly. 'Yassir knew that too, but he went overboard when I gave the order to have Rachel silenced.'

'You...get out.'

'What?'

Shane couldn't take it anymore. 'Get. Out. Of. My. House. Now,' he said with his teeth clenched.

Unsurprised by his reaction, Shir calmly gathered her things and left, waited until she was in the elevator before she broke into shamed sobs.

Back in their apartment, Alexis took one look at Shane's face and was out of her chair in an instant, grabbing his shoulders and steering him towards the kitchen sink, where sure enough, he began to vomit out the entire contents of his stomach.

'It's okay, baby,' she murmured as she turned on the faucet to rinse the foulness down the drain, 'just get it out.'

When he was down to sputtering dry heaves, and he'd rinsed his mouth with cool refreshing water, the tears came. Shane felt all the rage, the grief, the inhumanity of his friend's death come rushing up on him and it flowed hot and hard out of his eyes. The muscles in his thighs had all gone loose and they no longer had the strength to hold him up as he sobbed like a child, loud and long over this unfathomable deceit.

Then he felt arms around him, long and slim, that began to rock him. The soft whispering voice as the delicate hand stroked through his hair, the little _split-splat-split_ of sympathetic tears on his cheek.

'Lex,' Shane managed to get out, 'how could she do this? How...she's my mother, and she was my friend.'

'I know, baby, I know,' Alexis replied, swiping at her own streaming eyes. She didn't dare move to try and get a napkin to dab his face, so she yanked the tea-towel off the oven-door handle and stroked at the rivulets of tears on his face. He'd slumped onto the floor entirely, now, and was curled up in the foetal position. To see her bad-ass pathologist fiance so utterly destroyed had Alexis at a loss, so she quietly asked, 'What do you need me to do for you, Shane.'

'Stay. Please, Alexis, just stay right here with me.'

'Okay.'

Shane watched with storming eyes as she pulled off the oversized Mets t-shirt that served as her pyjama top, balled it up for a pillow under her head and laid right down on the floor beside him. She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and held him close.

They stayed there for what felt like an eternity, and Alexis wondered if one or both of them actually fell asleep at one point. Alexis stroked his hair as he breathed heavily through his nose, his eyes shut; tears were still leaking out of his eyes and coursing down the sides of his face.

'What can I do,' she said softly, then heard him shift, sigh deeply. He smacked his lips together a little bit, and patted her forearm.

'This is very _Grey's Anatomy _of us,' he murmured. 'Except you're way hotter than Katherine Prune-Face Prissy-Pants Heigl.'

'Shane?'

'Yeah.'

'How does one sit shiva?'

Shane peeled his eyes open. 'Shiva?'

'Yes, how is it done?'

'Why do you ask?'

'I think you need to grieve for Rachel again, and since I'm your fiancee, I want to be there for you and help you through it. So, how is it done?'

He wanted to say that it was a real pain in the ass, but the look on her face had him knowing better. 'Well, let's see. I'm a Reform Jew as are my parents, so we usually only go for four days instead of seven. There's lots of visitors to the home to offer condolences.'

'Do they bring food?'

'Yeah, you're not supposed to cook on the first day for yourself. There's no showering or bathing for pleasure, there's no wearing leather shoes or jewelery, no fresh laundry can be done, no sex, and no talking about other dead people.'

'Okay. What about if I rinse you down every day with lukewarm water?'

'A sponge bath?' Shane stared at the ceiling. 'Not how I envisioned you being a naughty nurse for me.'

'Are you hungry?'

'Considering I sicked up everything we ate just two hours ago and most of it hadn't digested, a little bit.'

'Okay.' Alexis sat up, turned so she could look at her man, fighting the demons of people past. 'Shane, would you be okay with it if I told Body and Sloan, and the Bricks that it's a potluck, that we're sitting shiva for your friend? We don't have to tell them it was Rachel, they can think it's Yassir.'

Shane sat up, looked Alexis deep in the eyes. 'You'd do that for me?'

'Any day of the week and twice on Sunday, which is ironic because today actually _is_ Sunday. And I will do it now because I love you.'

He pulled her in for a hard kiss, wasn't surprised when she winced at his ferociously awful breath. 'I'll brush my teeth in a moment.'

'You didn't answer my question.'

'I thought it was implied in that kiss.'

'Okay. I'll let them know in the morning.'

The house-line rang, and Alexis checked the caller-ID before she answered. 'It's my mother this time,' she said, looked at Shane. 'You up for it if she wants to talk to you?'

'Sure, I guess.'

Alexis picked up and spoke calmly but firmly. 'Hey, Mom, it's not a good time right now.'

'I know. I just got home from a meeting with her and Montgomery, and...how is Shane doing?'

'How were you after the Coonan case went south?'

'Okay, that's fair.'

'We're...I suggested to him we sit shiva for Rachel and Yassir, and so when we come over for dinner on Thursday, no talking about either one of them. And no leather shoes or jewelery.'

'Lex, you're not Jewish, you don't have to-'

'It's important to me,' was all Alexis said and though she wouldn't see it, Beckett nodding in understanding on her end of the phone. 'Shane needs it and I need to do whatever it takes to be there for him, so we are sitting shiva.'


	11. A Monday Morning at the Office

'Fuck me senseless on a Sunday.'

'I thought that was Meredeth's job, Detective.'

Beckett tried to tease Esposito a little at the early morning briefing; she'd called in the two-headed monster early so that they could meet before Shir's men arrived. She'd just finished telling him and Ryan what had been relayed to her by Shir the previous night and the reaction was the one she'd expected.

'It's a hell of a mess,' Ryan added, sipping his coffee. 'How is Shane doing?'

'Hard to say, I only talked to Alexis last night and even then I don't think she told me everything. Which is their prerogative, Shane's grief on it is a private thing-'

'-But you are his future mother-in-law and you want what's best for them.'

'How does that one taste going down?' Esposito asked as they walked back out to the bullpen from the conference room. 'Shane is only seventeen months younger than you Beckett, and he is going to be your son-in-law.'

'It doesn't bother me,' Beckett said honestly, 'because he makes Alexis so happy, and if you'd have seen the way he took care of her the last few days...He loves her so much, and she loves him right back. It's like trying to say that you and Mere should split up because you're five years older than her.'

'Bite your tongue, like hell I'm giving up my sexy juicy-booty mama.'

'See?'

'Detective Beckett?'

They looked over and saw two men, one was tall and golden-skinned like Shane, the other more olive-skinned and a good head shorter. Both wore dark dress pants and white shirts, the taller one with a pale purple silk tie while the other one was brunt orange.

'I'm Katsa Gideon Novak, this is Katsa Yani Cohen,' the taller one said, offering his hand in polite Western greeting.

'Detective Kate Beckett, this is Detectives Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan.'

'We were directed by Katsa Weaver to join you this morning.'

'Of course, would either of you gentlemen like coffee?'

'No, thank you,' Yani replied, held up a Seven-Eleven Big-Gulp cup. 'It is a weakness but when we come to the States, I like the purple Slushies.'

'And I have bottled water,' Gideon added. 'Why don't we get up to speed on your investigation and see where we will be most useful?'

Esposito nodded, pointed them towards the murder board. 'Yassir Lewertow was found at just past midnight on November fourteenth, and since it was past midnight it was officially Sunday the fifteenth in the medical examiner's report. He was found face down with his skull caved in on the right side and the ME determined it was an aluminum baseball bat that had been used to do the job.'

'We spoke with hotel staff and learned the hotel loading docks where he was found was also the hotel he was staying at while in New York,' Ryan continued as Gideon and Yani made notes in their own shorthand, and produced the hotel's internal phone records; they were still waiting on the phone company for actual transcripts of the calls and reverse engineering. 'As well, the desk manager of the hotel has given us a detailed account of the comings and goings of Yassir all night.'

'What about key cards,' Gideon inquired, 'any way of getting that record?'

'It will be coming through today, as will the surveillance footage from the hotel, as the manager required a warrant first given who Yassir was,' Beckett replied, then motioned for Ryan to continue.

'The desk agent said she spoke with Yassir four times in person and twice by phone. The first time on the phone was just after he'd arrived at his check-in and he was inquiring about getting a code for the hotel's wifi. The first time in person was to give him the code.' Ryan pointed to the time-line on the murder board below a photo of Yassir's hotel room. 'This was on Saturday morning around eight-thirty. The second time in person was just before noon, Yassir asked at the front desk what time the kitchen was open until that evening and she told him the restaurant was open until ten pm, the bar and room service until one am.'

'Yassir liked eating later in the evening,' Yani explained, 'it's custom in our country since few people like to sweat into their food.'

'Understandable,' Esposito concurred; his relatives in San Juan were the same way.

Ryan nodded in agreement and continued, 'The third in-person was around five-thirty pm, after he'd been out all day and he asked the desk agent if there had been any calls for him or anyone coming in asking for him, which she thought was kind of strange but replied no and no. The second and last phone-call was Yassir asking for his wake-up call time to be changed from six am to seven fifteen, and the last in person was when she saw him leave around eight in his winter coat.'

'This gives us a lot to work with,' Yani commented, glad that he and his partner could and would be of some help. 'Did he have anything unusual on him when he was found?'

'No, but we all found it odd that he had no cellphone with him.'

'You wouldn't have found it.' Gideon shook his head. 'We all carry government issued phones with us when on assignment, and our personal phones are burners. Yassir loathed the idea of someone always having your number, haha, so he didn't carry one if he was off-duty.'

'I will make a call to TSA, get his flight records and information pulled,' Yani added, then pointed his pen at Ryan and Esposito. 'Who is better versed in computers?'

'That'd be me.' Ryan held up his hand.

'You will help me with the footage. Gideon, you walk the crime scene with Esposito and Beckett. What about Yassir's hotel room, any of his effects offer anything?'

'His computer was given to our technical analysts in CSU, and other than that we found nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary. Had Shane not informed us who Yassir was, his position, I would almost think he was simply mugged and that's that,' Beckett said honestly.

'Eli is very skilled, and he is very good at disappearing. We've been tracking him for eighteen years since the first murder was committed.'

'First murder,' Esposito repeated.

'Eli Hudek swore a blood oath to avenge his sister, even if she was a traitorous bitch,' Gideon said in a stiff tone that told all three American detectives they'd known Rachel as well and her double-agency. 'He swore to make everyone involved pay, and that includes Yassir.'

'But why Yassir? He didn't actually hurt Rachel.'

'Eli had no idea his sister was bought by the Syrians,' Yani explained, capping his pen, 'and believes this was soldiers going rogue on someone they thought had no right being better at it than them. He holds Yassir as responsible as the rest because from his perspective, Yassir had the gun to Shane's head and prevented him from helping Rachel escape.'

He sighed. 'Until last night, Shane didn't know that it was on Shir's orders that Rachel was silenced, nor that it was Yassir who ordered the method. I can't imagine what that must have been like for him to learn.'

'Well his fiancee, the child-bride, should be able to take good care of him,' Gideon said offhand, and Ryan and Esposito saw Beckett's eyes go to slits.

'Gentlemen,' she said in a voice they recognized as the rattle before the snakebite, 'since this is our first time working together, I'll give you a pass on that one. Shane's fiancee is my daughter and you're right, she does take good care of him, as he does her.'

'Apologies,' Yani said hastily; he'd worked with Shir long enough to know that a woman pissed off could still keep a smile on her face as she turned your intestines into skipping ropes. 'Why don't we get started on this information, then?'

'A most excellent idea.'

* * *

><p>By the end of shift, they'd gathered as much data as they could, which was far more than they would have without the agents Shir had assigned to them. Yani and Gideon would be back in the morning to help them further and figure out where Eli had gone; they'd alerted TSA and put his passport on notification so that he couldn't rabbit on them. As this case had been given priority and Montgomery had shuffled off their other open assignments to the likes of Geoffs, Newman, and Karpowski, there was nothing for them to do at end of shift except call it a day.<p>

'So, what are you going to take over to Shane and Alexis, Kate?' Ryan asked, powering off his computer and putting on his long, warm, overcoat as he and Yani stood up.

'What do you mean?'

'She called last night, said she and Shane are sitting shiva and we should stop by with hot food for them, even if we don't hang for a visit.'

'They are sitting shiva for Yassir and Rachel?' Gideon asked, curious. 'She's a gentile, how does she know what to do?'

'I'd imagine Shane told her what's the tradition and being that she's in medical school,' Esposito added, feeling a surge of brotherly protection for Alexis' honour, 'I'm sure she'd use the Internet to look it up and fill in the gaps. And Meredeth and I are taking lasagne with garlic bread tomorrow night.'

'Jenny and I are taking them soul food tonight, Alexis loves the stuff. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, roasted yams, biscuits and peach pie for dessert.'

'Shane will like that, I think.' Gideon nodded. 'I know I would.'

'Is there a good spot near here for a bite to eat?' Yani asked.

'Try Flannigan's over on West Sixty-First, it's a good local spot.'

The two Israeli agents nodded, and once they'd packed their things before Julien the desk officer escorted them out, the rest of them put on their own overcoats and winter gear, glad to put the day behind them.

'What about you, Kate?' Ryan repeated his inquiry as they walked to the elevator.

'Shane and Alexis are coming to the loft for dinner on Thursday.' Beckett paused, frowned. It was supposed to be a meet-the-in-laws dinner for herself, Castle and Shir, but with the developments of the previous night, she wondered if that would still be the case. 'We're having Mexican, I think. RJ's hooked on the stuff, which makes me wonder if he understands that Trini is half Puerto-Rican and not half-Mexican.'

'Oh Jesus Christ,' Esposito groaned. 'It's bad enough my oldest daughter is already half in love with his son-' he jerked his head towards Ryan '-now I have to contend with my other baby girl being hit on by Richard Castle's son. Thank God for Leo.'

'Well...' Beckett trailed off coyly. 'Lanie said that Violet's been asking what Leo wants for Christmas.'

'Oh for the love of...why? Why, why, why?'

'I blame all that hot Latin blood and the fact you and Mere banged like rabbits all the time when she was pregnant,' Ryan said, glad to get some of his own back; his glee was short lived when Esposito squared him up with a laser-beam stare.

'I want you to imagine your sweet little boy going at it with a girl in a bathroom at a party just like you and Jenny did to make Dell on Hallowe'en.'

Ryan blanched slightly and swallowed. 'You're so mean to me some days.'

Beckett just closed her eyes, listened to them squabble like little boys. Leaning against the wall of the elevator, she shook her head, chuckled which had them both looking at her.

'What is it, Kate?'

'Just thinking how shitty the last few days have been, with Alexis having a miscarriage, then Shane's friend murdered and his finding out that Rachel was actually a spy. Yet you two still sound like Abbott and Costello bickering over whose got it worse. Esposito with two daughters who've already got boyfriends and they're not even out of diapers yet, or Ryan and the fact that one of those boyfriends is his son or me and the fact the other boyfriend is _my_ son. It just makes me laugh to think that tradition never dies.'

She opened her eyes, looked at Esposito. 'And I think we also might have our first love triangle amongst the youngsters with your son too.'

'What?'

'Well, Meredeth also mentioned Leo can't get enough of visiting with Andrea and Daniel's little girl.'

'Oh, yes, his precious Sa-sa.' Now Esposito did laugh. 'And to think Mere and I want one more. I'm praying it's a boy.'

'Maybe you'll have twins again,' Ryan suggested blithely and grinned widely when it was his partner who went pasty. 'Two identical girl twins, and then Leo will know my pain of growing up with three sisters.'

'Oh, now who's the bad cop?'

'Me, boys,' Beckett interjected as they reached the garage level. 'Always me.'


	12. A Check Up

Shane bounced his palms on the edge of the examination table in the little exam room while Alexis swung her legs back and forth from her spot. They'd called Walsh as directed when Alexis' post-partum bleeding medication had ran out, and he directed them to come in for an appointment with Doctor Harvey, the obstetric specialist. Alexis didn't bother telling the man she knew who Harvey was, considering he'd delivered her little brother, she just wrote down the item for the appointment and had dissolved into tears when she'd done so. Shane had simply wrapped his arms around her and held her until the crying had abated and offered to warm up the leftover chicken and mashed potatoes from Ryan and Honey-Milk for their lunch.

Now, sitting in the little room, waiting and waiting, all he wanted to do was hold her again, for Shane could see the same miserably guilty look in her eyes again. Not as strong as it had been the previous Friday night, but there all the same.

'Shane, could you stop that please?' she asked him nicely. 'The sound is really annoying me, I'm edgy enough as it is.'

'Sorry, honey.'

'And please stop calling me honey, I really don't like it.'

'Why?'

Alexis sighed. 'It's just...it feels like you're being condescending, even though I know you're not. I've just had it used too many times like that, like 'oh honey, you don't know better do you', or 'oh, honey, let the grown-ups worry about it, you're just a child'. It bothers me.'

'Okay, I'll remember. So refresh me again, why does Harvey want to see you and not Walsh?'

'He's the head of OBGYN here, it's his specialty to deal with medical situations like mine.'

'Right. You think you'll be okay at school next week?'

'I think so.' She sighed again, only this time it was wistful, not impatient. 'Maybe...if you're

'You don't even need to ask, my sweet.'

'See that one, I like.'

Shane grinned, glad to see her smile. 'My sweet?'

'Yeah, makes me think I'm some kind of cutesy sugar-doll.'

'Okay.'

The door opened and Harvey came in, a kind light in his eyes as he clicked his pen and examined her chart. 'Alexis, I'm terribly sorry to have to see you under these circumstances,' he said in his patient, steady way. 'I understand how difficult it can be for a couple to go through this.'

'Thank you, Doctor Harvey.'

'Alright, lie back and we'll have a look-see at your cervix, see how far you've firmed up.'

'We had a couple of dates before we got to that part in our relationship,' Shane said dryly as Harvey snapped on gloves and gave Alexis a digital examination. He heard his fiancee suck in a sharp breath at the pressure of it and Shane held her hand tightly. 'Remember our first real date?'

'We went to Spice Island. I was so nervous, I thought was going to spill my dinner all over myself.'

'Same here, although there is one moment about that night that has always stuck with me.'

'Oh?'

Shane nodded, recalling the moment like a digital photo in his brain. 'We were looking at our menus, and I glanced up and you were chewing your fingernail in thought as you tried to pick something to eat. I had this flash of you and I together in my apartment eating in bed together, and you were doing that.'

'That's kinda hot you were thinking that on our first date. You didn't even kiss me until after we were playing pool.'

'And that led us to other fun things, which is kinda how we wound up here.' He looked over at Harvey, who had finished doing his thing with Alexis' lady-business. 'So, doc, verdict?'

'Alexis' bleeding has stopped entirely, and her cervix is just about closed. You should be ready to resume intercourse by Friday.'

'And what about my future fertility?'

'I read your chart, Alexis, there was DNA testing done on the blood sample that was removed from your uterus when you came in last Friday and I can tell you that you and Shane have a ninety-eight percent chance of conceiving naturally in the future. The testing also revealed that the embryo never fully implanted itself because of the fact you were on the hormone needle for your birth control. The over-abundance of hormones in your body meant it didn't have a chance to properly develop '

Harvey pulled off his gloves, dropped them in the medical waste bin. 'I have had other patients experience similar situations, Alexis, and it had no bearing whatsoever on the woman or the man involved in the conception of the failed embryo. Nor did it affect their chances of getting pregnant in the future. One of those patients you know quite well, but obviously I can't go around blabbering about her medical file.'

'Obviously,' Shane and Alexis chorused.

'When it comes down to it, this was just bad luck.'

'Bad luck.' Alexis sat up, gave Shane a there-it-is smirk. 'Seems to be some of that going around.'

'If you like, I can recommend some counseling programs.'

'Thanks, but I think I'll check into one of the counseling programs at my school. Not to impugn the ones you're offering, but I'm only in New York until Sunday, then it's back to Princeton.'

'I understand completely.' Harvey reached into his pocket, pulled out a card. 'This is my cell and pager, if you have any concerns. Either one of you.'

'Thanks, Doctor.'

'Hopefully the next time I see you, it's because you and RJ are getting another sibling, or RJ is going to be an uncle in training pants.'

Shane laughed at Harvey's parting words, then at Alexis who was redressing from the hospital gown into her street clothes. 'So? How's it feel now?'

'Better. Hearing it confirmed that this was a fluke accident - the miscarriage, not the pregnancy,' she clarified emphatically, 'helps a lot, but I think it'd still be good for me to have a little bit of counseling while I'm still handling the hormone down-flux and you're not there.'

'About that. I talked to Pearlmutter on Sunday, when he told me to take the time off and he said he'd give me until next Monday, then put me on the swing for Tuesday so I can stay two nights with you down in New Jersey.'

Alexis said nothing, just nodded and wrapped her arms around her fiance. Somehow he always just knew the right thing to do to make her feel better. She stood there holding on to him for a few extra minutes, then tipped her face up to his and kissed his lips.

'So last night, we had Ryan and Honey-Milk stopping by to see us, who's it going to be tonight?' he asked as they left the room.

Alexis' move to respond was interrupted by the sound of someone calling their names, and they both turned around to see Daniel walking towards them in his dark blue scrubs, his tropical fish scrub cap peeking out of his pocket.

'Hey, Daniel, how's it going?'

'Good, good, hope you two are doing better than last Friday?'

'Alexis got the all-clear from Harvey,' Shane confirmed. 'We can still have babies when we want to.'

'That's great news. I have a message to pass along from Andrea. She said that if you are interested, we're going to Antigua in December for four days and you're more than welcome to come with. We'll be taking a red-eye on the twenty-sixth and fly home the night of the thirtieth.'

'That's an amazing offer,' Alexis said, surprised down to her toes to receive such an invitation. 'What's the occasion?'

'Remember Andrea's friends from Japan who were at the wedding? They're shooting a new film in the Caribbean starting in January and want Andrea to give their principle actors a crash course in scuba certification. I'm off on holidays anyways, and...well, this might sound a little presumptive,' Daniel admitted, bashfully scratching the side of his face.

'Go on.'

'Well, Andrea's not so nuts about the idea of hiring a nanny to come with us to watch Nessa, or leaving her with Agnes for so long, so maybe you guys could watch her with us?'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, we're there three nights, right? Like maybe one night you watch her, one night we watch her, and then we do like a family thing on the last night.'

'Oh, of course,' Shane volunteered. 'I think that sounds like a great idea.'

'Seriously?' Alexis looked at him, eyebrows raised in happy surprise.

'Sure, we haven't had a trip away together this year, not like when I came to see you in England and we went to Paris and Amsterdam,' he pointed out. 'Why shouldn't we take a few days for a getaway for ourselves?'

'That's true. Okay, um, sure, why don't you guys stop by tomorrow night for dinner and we can iron out some details.'

'Sounds great.'

Alexis gave him the address which Daniel keyed into his phone and he darted off with promises to bring his family over the following night. She watched him go, then turned to smile at Shane. 'So wonderful to see how much they've grown into our family.'

'It is,' Shane agreed, putting his hand in Alexis'. 'You wanna get something to eat?'

'Actually...I'd really love to do some baking. But we're sitting shiva and that's off limits.'

'I think we can make an exception.'

* * *

><p>A few hours later, the apartment was filled with the wonderful scent of cinnamon and butter and toasted walnuts. Tehy'd stopped at the market for Alexis to get baking supplies, and while Shane did all of her pre-measuring and washing the bowls and utensils, Alexis went through the soothing ritual of adding in sugar, eggs and flour as needed.<p>

She made his favourites first, pfeffernussen, followed by chocolate chip and oatmeal almond. The batch of walnut-white chocolate and raspberry were half-way done being mixed when the intercom buzzed.

'That's probably Meredeth and Javi, they were coming by with lasagne tonight,' she told Shane as he went to the intercom.

'You're probably right. _Hola, como estas, hermano?_' Shane asked, using one of three Spanish phrases he knew.

'Shane? Is that you?'

'Mom.' The joy of seeing his friends with good cooking in hand vanished, and he looked at Alexis in what could only be described as infuriated panic. 'What are you doing here?'

'I need to speak with you, Scheine. You and Alexis, urgently.'

'Just a minute.'

He released the 'Talk' button and looked at his fiancee, who had turned around completely and was dusting off her hands. 'Should I let her up?'

'Yes. It could be that she wants to talk about Eli.'

'And what if it's about Rachel and Yassir?'

'Isn't it better to get it all out at once than let it linger and drive you two apart?'

'She's already fractured things by lying to me,' Shane started, but Alexis stood firm her ground.

'She told you the truth, something that was probably as difficult to say as it was to hear. Would you rather have found out that your mother did what she did from someone else? Possibly Eli if you two had gotten into a confrontation?'

'Damn your logic,' Shane grumbled, and kissed her when she walked over with flour-covered hands. 'But I love you all the same.'

'Love you too. Now let your mother in.'

He pressed the 'Talk' button once more and cleared his throat. 'Okay, Mom, you can come up.'

'Very well.'

A few minutes later, there was the knock on the door, and Shane opened it to see Shir there, and for a moment, he saw that she really looked her age; the usually gentle lines near her eyes and mouth were deeper than they had been two days before, and he felt the pang of guilt that his treatment of her - tossing her out on her ass from his home - was partially to blame for that.

Shir stood there, holding onto a green plant. 'I wanted to come by, offer an apology for the way I said what I had to say. May I come in?'

Her son stood back in tacit welcome, and Shir looked around. It had been three years before when she'd last visited; it definitely had a woman's touch in it now. She looked over in the kitchen, saw Alexis baking.

'Hello, Shir.'

'Hello, Alexis. I brought a plant,' Shir said rather lamely, and Alexis nodded at the kitchen table where plates of her baked good were cooling.

'Just put it there amongst the cookies.'

'What do you want, Mom?' Shane asked, a little more tersely than he'd intended.

'I want to talk to you about Rachel, and Eli, and Yassir.'


	13. A Truce & A Date

'Mom, please, I don't want to rehash all of that, and I certainly don't want Alexis to have to watch me go through it again.'

Shane leaned against the counter as his mother sat at the kitchen table. She looked fragile, he realized, fragile and human, two things he'd never thought she was growing up. 'We've had a lot going on in our own lives this past week without Yassir's death that we're trying to handle, so reliving Sunday night isn't going to be of any benefit to any of us.'

'I know that, Scheine, and please believe me, I didn't want this to ever have to come to light, but...well, like you said, reliving it won't do us any good.'

'So why are you here?'

'To apologize to you.'

'What for?' Shane's patience was thinning, and he wasn't in the mood for any kind of antics.

'For hurting you. Rachel was someone you cared about and for you to learn that she was a double-agent couldn't have been easy. It wasn't easy to tell you. I didn't want to, but a very wise woman told me that the truth, however much it hurts, is always the best place to begin healing.'

'We've already started doing that mother. Alexis and I have begun sitting shiva, not just for Yassir but Rachel too.'

'The both of you?' Shir looked from her son to his fiancee, who was wiping her hands on a towel. 'Even though you're not Jewish, Alexis?'

'It was her idea,' Shane said evenly, subtly standing his ground for his beloved. 'Grief is grief and processing it with the ritual of mourning, whatever form it takes, does help.'

'That it does. Alexis, you do know you're not supposed to cook during the seven days.'

'Ours is only four and give her a break, Mother.' Shane gave her a stare of icy daggars. 'She was here taking care of me while I bawled my eyes out on Sunday night while trying to deal with the shit you dumped into my lap about Rachel and Yassir.'

'And he's been taking care of me while I've been going through a rough time as well.' Alexis walked over, put her hands on Shane's arms. 'I find baking soothing when I'm troubled and Shane has been amazingly supportive and understanding.'

'That's wonderful.' Shir looked around, drummed her fingers on the table. 'Where is the bathroom?'

'Down the hall on the left.'

When Shir was gone from earshot, Shane turned to his fiancee, kissed her brow. 'Alexis, I need to talk to my mother, in private. This is not a shun to you, it's not,' he insisted when he saw the little flash in her eyes, 'and it's nothing I'm scared of you hearing about. In fact, it's stuff you've heard before from me, but I need to the one-on-one time with my mother.'

Every instinct in her brain was screaming at her to protest, but the gut feeling she had - the same one she'd had when he'd gone to Las Vegas for a work conference while she'd been at Cambridge - won out and she nodded. 'I think I'm out of eggs and I wanted to make macaroons for Chanukah this year, so why don't I run out and get some?'

'Thank you. Hey.'

Alexis looked down at the hand on her bicep, how he was holding her in place. 'Yes?'

'You forgot something.' Shane laid his lips gently to hers, lingered a few seconds to just breathe her in. 'I love you.'

'I love you too.'

He watched her put on her coat, head out the door and turned back when he heard the bathroom door open. 'Mom, you want coffee?'

'Sure. Where did Alexis go?'

'She ran out of eggs, headed out to get fresh.

Shir shook her glossy black and silver head. 'You sent her away to talk to me in private. You always were a horrible liar, Scheine, you would never have made a secret agent.'

Shane laughed. 'Well, Alexis and I managed to keep our relationship a secret for nearly a month until we figured out what we were, even though I knew the first time I kissed her that was it.'

'She's a good young woman.'

'Alexis is the best thing that ever happened to me. What I did to deserve that red-headed angel, I'll never know but that's not what I want to talk about, Mom.'

'Okay.'

'When we were in combat school together, Yassir and I were close, but...I knew he was the one who held that gun to my head. I didn't want to believe it was because he hated Rachel, and hearing from you that it was his orders that she died...I can't reconcile that with the man I knew.'

'What Yassir ordered those men to do to Rachel was unforgivable and it's a black mark I'll take to my judgment day that I put him in charge of silencing her.'

'Why, Mom?' Tears sparkled at the edges of Shane's eyes. 'Why would a good and decent man do that to a woman, to a friend?'

'Because when we take a hurt to the heart, we want to seek out what hurt us and destroy it, to hurt that person the way we were hurt. Yassir went overboard, and that is a fact. It was supposed to be that you two were separated and she was shot to the head, the apparent victim of a stray friendly-fire bullet.'

Hearing such a plan, even one of a more merciful and painless death, didn't make it any easier for Shane to bear. 'You told Yassir to do that?'

'Yes, and it's another blackness I take with me. But...I think Yassir did what he did so that you wouldn't suffer as he did, with the knowledge he had to carry out this horrible task.'

'The Band-aid effect? Rip it off in one smooth motion?' Shane said rather bitterly, angry that Shir could reduce that night to such a ridiculously simple adage. 'And Eli? What about what he's done? Does he even know that Rachel was a spy?'

'Eli's sins are his own, but I do acknowledge my part in them nonetheless. My concern is to bring Eli into my custody alive so that he can be debriefed on the situation.'

'Not silenced?'

Shir let out a long breath. 'Scheine, I don't expect your forgiveness for my part in what happened to Rachel. And I want to try and make amends with you for keeping you in the dark. But Eli is a different beast altogether. You're not on a mission from God, and he is.'

'Now you're quoting Elwood Blues, Mother?'

'It suits the situation. My priority is making sure you two stay safe.' She paused. 'Alexis mentioned this past week you've been unconditionally supportive of her, and you said you've been having some problems. I hope everything is okay in your relationship.'

'We're fine, Mom.' Shane scratched his head, squeezed his eyes shut. 'Friday night, the night before I was called to Yassir's crime scene, Alexis had a miscarriage.'

'Oh, Scheine, I am so sorry. Even when you're not planning it, and things like that happen they still hurt. Is Alexis okay?'

'Yeah, the doctor said we can still have children when we want them, and we can resume being intimate together whenever we want. I don't want to spook her or have her feel like I'm putting pressure on her.'

'You're a smart boy, you'll know what to do.'

The door opened and Alexis reappeared with her grocery bags in hand. She smiled at them with a little bit of hesitancy. 'Hey, Shane. Shir. How is the private talk going?'

'Very well.' Shir stood up, and surprised the hell out of Alexis when she crossed over to her, gave her a hard embrace. 'I'm sorry to hear about your miscarriage, Alexis.'

'Thank you.'

'God always has a way of sorting things out, and he won't take away from you without balancing the scales some other way.' She laid a hand on the girl's cheek, then reached for her coat on the hook by the door. 'I'll take my leave now. I hope the invitation for dinner still stands on Thursday.'

'Of course.'

'I'll see you both then.'

Shir left, and Alexis made it as far as unwinding her scarf before Shane had her in his arms and was holding her close. 'Ooof, sweetheart, I think your'e gonna crush the eggs,' she wheezed out.

'Lex, you are a goddess, a vision, an angel.' Shane took her face in his hands, underlining each praise with a juicy kiss. 'Is there anything in the oven cooking?'

'No.'

'And anything on the counter that will spoil?'

'No, why?'

'Good, because in about ten minutes, we're taking a bath.'

Alexis blinked at him, then squinted. 'Were you drinking with your mother?'

'Not at all, I just really want to be intimate with you and since we're waiting a few more days for making love, in my mind, the next best thing is taking a nice, hot steamy bubble bath together.'

'That does sound good. Okay, you run the tub, and I'll tidy this up.'

* * *

><p>It took closer to fifteen minutes to get everything organized but the moment Alexis slipped into the water, nestled herself against Shane's body, she felt the stress ebb away. She was itching with all her might to ask him what he and his mother had discussed, but she had to respect their right to privacy, just like he respected it when she spoke to her parents in private.<p>

'I can see right into that pretty head of yours so before you torture yourself over it, my mother and I just talked about the case, and how I've been supportive of you going through the miscarriage.'

'Shane, it's okay. You're entitled to keep things private like that. I won't ask you to destroy that confidence.'

He kissed her head, then tugged on the ends of her damp hair. 'Hey, I was thinking about something last night, after you fell asleep.'

'Yeah?'

'How does July eighth strike you as a date for the wedding?'

'July eighth?' Alexis craned her neck to look at him. 'Like next summer?'

'No. The summer after that. We need time to plan, of course.'

'What brought this on?'

'I know the last few days haven't been ideal, but every couple faces its own trials in due time, and this past week or so has made me realize I want to call you my wife.'

'And I want to call you my husband, Shane,' she murmured. 'There's still a lot of growing for us to do yet-'

'I know there is.'

'But setting a date, that's one step closer to calling me Doctor Weaver. Or Lady Doctor Weaver.'

'If you want, you can call me Mister Castle.'

Alexis wrinkled her nose. 'Ew, no.'

'Why knot?'

'Because that's what people call my father?'

'Oh, ick, yeah, that's too weird.' Shane shuddered, making the pouffes of bubbles wobble on the water's surface. 'I've never understood that, why men want their ladies to call them daddy in bed, that's just gross and wrong.'

'So why July eighth?'

'That way we can have the bachelor and bachelorette weekends, the wedding and the honeymoon while you're on your break from medical school.'

'No cruises.' Alexis shook her head. 'You remember how loopy I got when we went on that one this summer with my parents and RJ?'

'I think that had more to do with the rum drinks we kept inhaling,' Shane chuckled. 'But okay, if you get no cruises, I get no Spain.'

'Why Spain?'

'I don't' speak Spanish and I've heard the men there are really leering. I don't want some Spanish dude drooling over my new wife's goodies.'

Alexis felt a little thrill in her stomach. 'I like the sound of that.'

'What, me calling you my wife?'

'Uh-huh, that and the idea of you fighting other guys for my honour makes me get all...tingly.'

That her libido was perking up like that made Shane feel like a superhero, that he'd done something to make her cheer up. 'I'd turn them into Jell-O if they lingered too long window-shopping the candy-counter.'

He slipped his hands up her torso and reached to cup her breasts, let his hands rest there. Her nipples were slowly stiffening under his touch and he pressed his lips against her throat. 'Then we'd go back to our hotel room, and I'd show you how a real man treats his woman.'

'Like this?'

'This and more.'

'Shane?' Alexis pressed her palms over his hands.

'Yeah baby.'

'July eighth sounds perfect.'


	14. A Lead

On Wednesday morning Kate yawned as she went into RJ's room and found her little guy already awake, bouncing poor Omeo up and down against the blankets.

'Mo-nin' Mumum! Time-a ea' beck-fist?'

'You got it little man, after a diaper change.'

'O-kay. Lessis an' Shan' ea' here?'

'Not tonight, honey, tomorrow,' Beckett told her son; he'd taken Alexis' move to Shane's apartment rather hard and was always curious to know when they'd be coming around for a visit and a meal.

'You cashin' mo' baddies to-day?'

'Hopefully we can get one that's been very tricky for us to find.'

RJ wiggled as he laid back on the changing table, stuck his little feet in the air. 'You get him. You an' Wyn an' Pito.'

'Yeah, we'll get him.'

'Daddy!'

Beckett glanced up and saw Castle standing in the door-way, sleep dogging his eyes. 'You look awful, honey.'

'I think I'm getting that damn flu that's going around.'

'Daddy, no sar-in',' RJ said with a finger wag at his father. 'I li-till.'

'Sorry, my prince, you're right. What do you feel like for breakfast?'

'Panakes wit' ships, pease!'

'That's for on weekends,' Castle told him. 'How about oatmeal and regular toast?'

RJ pouted magnificently, but relented. 'Fine, Daddy, no-mal toas'.'

'That's my boy.'

Castle came over, picked RJ up and headed downstairs and Beckett was contemplating the shower or breakfast first when her phone buzzed on her night-stand. 'Beckett.'

'Morning, Missus Castle.'

'Careful Esposito or your baby count will stop at three.'

'What if Mere's already pregnant?'

'Is she?'

'No,' the detective replied playfully, 'but she could be the way we go at it.'

'Did you call to brag about your sex life or is there another reason?'

'Saddle up, we might have a lead on Eli's hidey-hole here in town. We're meeting the Mossad agents at the hotel, and Shir's going to be with them. You're riding with me and Gideon, so I'll see you in fifteen.'

'Got it.'

Beckett snapped her phone shut, then headed straight for the closet. Since she'd showered the night before, skipping it this morning wouldn't mean she was unhygienic, just not the same level of awake. She tugged on jeans and a light wool sweater; if they'd found Eli's flop there was a chance she was going to need her vest as they went through the door and that would mean light, movable clothing.

Tying her hair up in a messy knot at the back of her head, she added her badge to her belt along with her cuffs, and fit her weapon in its holster at the small of her back before heading downstairs where she saw her hubby had already put two slices of wheat toast with peanut butter and Nutella into a Ziploc bag for her. Her coffee was in a thermos, ready to go, and RJ was watching her with his blue eyes serious.

'You gotta geddum ea'ly, Mumum?' he asked, fingers clutching at the back of his chair.

'Yes, sir I do, and I'll tell you all about it tonight, okay?'

'Pomis?'

'Promise.'

RJ nodded, then kissed his mother. 'Love you, Mumum, be safe.'

'I love you too, RJ, and I'll be as safe as I can.'

'O-kay. Moosh Daddy too.'

Beckett straightened up, gave her husband a long kiss followed by two short ones. 'I'll give you more than that tonight, I promise,' she murmured.

'I'm holding you to it.'

'Mumum, e-nough mooshin'! Baddies gon' geddaway!'

'Thank you, Cadet Castle.' She gave her son one last hug. 'I'll see you tonight, my little prince.'

* * *

><p>When Beckett slipped into the passenger seat of Esposito's ride, she saw he had the look of someone who'd woken up to sex on his face and not trying terribly hard to hide it.<p>

'I take it the efforts for baby number four are going well?'

'Oh yeah,' he said on such a note of satisfaction that Beckett screwed up her face in disgust as she sipped her coffee.

'Espo?'

'Uh-huh.'

'We are way too close in our little family.'

Esposito laughed heartily. 'Bitch all you want, Kate, until you've been through what Ryan's been through regarding my sex life, you'll never have it the worst.'

'Why do you take so much relish still in that?' she asked him as they eased onto the street towards the agents' hotel. 'Tessi's going to be four next April.'

'Don't say things like that, she's still my baby girl. And because it's fun to know that four years after the conception, the mere mention of making my precious little princess still makes him wriggle like a worm on a hook.'

'Tessi's going to be four.' Beckett shook her head. 'God, she's getting so big. The twins are already one, and walking and talking.'

'Did I tell you Leo has started asking for boy-time with me?'

'No, you didn't.'

Esposito nodded, negotiated the busy intersection of Broadway and Fifty-Second Street to head west. 'I got in on Monday night, and when Leo came over to give me a hug, he asks me 'Bos onee Daddy?' He was at the end of his tether with his sisters playing _My Little Pony_ that afternoon, according to Mere.'

'So, what, you took him out for hard liquor and loose women?'

'We played Indiana Jones on Wii, he's seen Dell and Carey play it with us, and thinks that's the height of being one of the big boys like them.'

'How's Tessi handling another female close to her age in her space?'

'Pretty well, mostly because right now Trini wants to be like big sister. Tessi's trying to show her how to help Meredeth with laundry and teaching her colours with all the clothes.'

Beckett laughed. 'RJ is like that in the kitchen, he's always wanting to help Castle make dinner and learn about shapes and colours that way. He learned the meaning of 'circle' because he wanted to help Alexis make pancakes and she showed him how to stir the batter.'

'That's a good one. Maybe he'll be a charming baker and get all the girls by tempting them with sweet treats.'

'I think there's only one girl right now he's interested in spending time with. One Tessi's teaching to fold socks.'

'Beckett, it's not even eight in the morning, can't making my head explode wait until a more decent hour?' But Esposito ground his teeth; the pride of being a daddy outweighed his panic at his children having their own lives without him. 'Trini's started asking about him too.'

'No way.' Now it was a gleeful, gossip-girl grin on Beckett's face as she crammed in a slice of toast. 'Wha' shi seh?' she mumbled around wheat bread and peanut-butter.

'She says Ah-Shay fizz. 'Fizz' is her word for visit right now, and every morning when she wakes up, it's 'Hi-hi Mami, Ah-Shay fizz?' I think it's starting to get to Meredeth a little bit.'

'Oh?'

'I think she's realizing that Tessi is the quiet romantic one and Trini will be our resident flirt.'

'If that's the case, then her and RJ are a perfect match.'

The mama-daddy talk was put on hold now as they watched Gideon exit the lobby of the hotel, alone. The moment he slipped into the back seat of the Crown Vic, Beckett asked, 'Where's your partner and Katsa Weaver?'

'They went to the precinct with Detective Ryan to continue working through security footage. Shir has gone to speak with Captain Montgomery.'

'So, what's the deal?'

'Yani and I were going through some of our old files on Eli, the top-secret kind, as you Americans like to say. We had pages from a journal he'd left, and he was talking about the story of Joseph, son of Jacob from Genesis. Eli's a deeply spiritual man and he always turned to the Bible for guidance. You know the story of Joseph?'

'I've seen the musical,' Esposito said dryly with a hint of humour in his eyes.

Sir Weber got it mostly right, but Eli has always painted Rachel into the Joseph role, that she was betrayed and it's his job to set things right.'

'That's quite the perversion of a benign story.'

'Something broke in Eli when Rachel died that was never healed,' Gideon said sorrowfully. 'We were friends once, but after she was killed, well...there's only so much a friend can do before he feels like it's a lost cause.'

'Watching a friend suffer is never easy.' Esposito thought of Saturday night when he'd watched Shane melt down a little bit over his and Alexis' lost baby. 'So what's the move, where do we go?'

'We're going to is twenty-one-twenty-two East Thirty-Seventh Street, apartment eleven.'

'That's pretty specific,' Beckett observed as Esposito slipped into traffic. She turned to look at Gideon who was as sombre as Shir had been during their meeting on Sunday night. 'How did you deduce that?'

'Like I said, Eli's a very spiritual man and he has used the story of Joseph and his brothers as an allegory to his own plight of vengeance. In Genesis, the chapters detailing Joseph's story are thirty-seven, and thirty-nine to forty-five. Yani and I kept notes on each of his crimes and it's the only part of the story he hasn't touched yet, the very beginning of it.'

'What's the meaning of the numbers?'

'In parts twenty-one and twenty-two of Genesis thirty-seven, Reuben the eldest brother kept the others from murdering Joseph and convinced them to sell him off as a slave. In this case, Yassir was Reuben and Shane was Joseph, and if he's switching up like that...' Gideon hesitated only a moment. 'It means he's coming near the end and we have to find him before he offers himself up as the final sacrifice.'

'You mean kill himself,' Beckett clarified and Gideon nodded.

'I do mean that.'

'What can we expect if we find him there?'

'We won't.'

Esposito glanced in the review mirror, as much to look at Gideon as check for traffic. 'You seem pretty confident on that part.'

'Yani, Shir and I have been tracking Eli for nearly eighteen years, and running him to ground is like trying to box with Claude Rains. There will be a confrontation, no question, but on his terms. He will only come in when he wants to.'

'So what's the point of going to his flop?'

'Yassir was the last on the list.' Despite the fact it was November eighteenth, Gideon took out a handkerchief and mopped his brow. 'His...what was the word you used?'

'Flop?'

'Yes, his flop will give us some idea of where he's going to go next, what he might to do turn himself in. Eli is a very smart man and knows fully the depth of his crimes and sins, he knows he's not above the law and will pay for what he's done, in this life or the next.'

The car turned onto East Thirty-Seventh Street and they parked where there was space, no more than fifty feet from where they were heading. The building was a drab, unassuming grey brick affair, with numbers on the glass doors giving the address in faded paint that might have once passed for cheap gold. There was no doorman or secure entrance, but Beckett noted there was a single small security camera, and made a mental note to get the footage of it over to Ryan and Yani.

She stepped to the mailboxes and scanned number eleven, clucked her tongue. 'You called it right, Katsa Novak. Apartment eleven is listed to a Yusuf Reuben. Yusuf is similar to Joseph, right?'

'The Arabic translation. Like the difference between Peter in English and Pierre in French.' Gideon brushed back his overcoat, drew a rather lethal looking service pistol from a discreet holster. 'I'll take your lead, Detective.'

They took the stairs to the third floor, the smells of household cleanser and fresh plaster permeating the air; they moved quietly and silently, coats buttoned to conceal their kevlar vests. Beckett moved to the right side of the door frame, out of view while Esposito aligned himself behind Gideon. If Eli was in there, he'd most likely co-operate with the agent he knew than the cops in a foreign country.

When there was no answer to Gideon's barked order in Hebrew he nodded at Beckett, who pounded the door herself.

'Eli Hudek! NYPD, open up!'

There was no answer a second time and this time Beckett nodded to Esposito, who braced himself and shouldered in the flimsy door. They went in hot, announcing themselves once more but the apartment, as Gideon had predicted, was empty of people.

Documents, on the other hand, littered the scant living space.


	15. A Suspicion

It took time, but now that they'd sussed him out, Beckett knew that it wasn't a matter of 'if' they would catch Eli, it was simply a matter of 'when'. Or more specifically, how long it would take Eli to figure out that Gideon had found the hidey-hole and was boxing him in.

They'd found all of Eli's papers in the apartment, quiet literally - in addition to page after page of diary entries, photographs, floor plans, flight schedules, taxi service information, and the rest of it, there was an envelope that contained what they learned were duplicate copies of his last will and testament. Instructions for every possible contingency and situation were laid out, along with a data-base table that contained every last password he used on the Internet from his personal email and his online banking to the porn sites he frequented. They also found six photo albums, one for every one of his victims and his pursuit of them, the photos he took of them in the weeks and days prior to their murders.

Beckett had looked around the room and felt an overwhelming urge to weep at the sight of it all. There was so much hatred, so much rage in here it was as tangible as the paper between her latex covered fingers. And for what? All that hatred wasn't going to erase what Rachel had done. Yes the men deserved to be punished, but hadn't Eli been punished enough with the loss of his sister?'

'You're awfully deep in thought, Beckett,' Ryan said, giving her a cup of fresh coffee and studying the murder board with her, the fresh photographs of Eli's apartment attached to a second white-board.

'Do you remember the first time you thought you hated something, Kevin?'

The use of his first name let Ryan know all he needed to. 'Yeah. I was four years old and I had cut my hand really badly. My mom took me to the doctor's and he gave me this liquid medicine that tasted like rancid fruit juice, and I hated that stuff.'

'But that went away. I looked at Eli's file. Rachel was twenty-four when she died, he was barely twenty, just a year older than Shane. Yeah it's possible to go through a lot in the first twenty years of you life, I know I sure as hell did, but then, I also knew I had all these possibilities in front of me. Eli, he just cut all of that out.' Beckett sighed, shifted as she sat on the edge of her desk. 'He could have grieved this and moved on, gotten married, had children, but instead he's spent the majority of his adult life fixated on this.'

'I...no, I don't want to say that.'

'What?'

'Well...isn't it a little similar to you becoming a cop to solve your mother's murder?'

'It's why I started at the academy,' Beckett admitted honestly, 'and then when I worked my first homicide case, I realized that I could honour my mother just as much by serving those in need in the here and now as digging into her case.'

She tugged out the gold chain from under her blouse, fingered the delicate engagement ring there. 'Sometimes I can hear her, as clear and present as if she was sitting beside me like Castle does, telling me what the move is, what the next step is for an investigation. And when I'm low, I can even hear her say talk to him, honey, he'll always be there.'

'Your dad?'

'Richard.' Beckett laughed a little, rubbed her hand over the back of her neck, and wondered if what she said next might cross the line a little. 'The night we closed our first case together, the nanny in the dryer, I had a dream about my mother.'

'What'd she say?'

'We were having lunch at some restaurant and she said to me, Katie-Lou, that's a real man you've got yourself, now what are you going to do about it, and I tried to say he was just a friend, but she interrupted and said, how can you say that about the future father of your children, and then I woke up.'

Ryan smiled at her. 'That's very sweet. I won't tell anyone your subconscious manifestation in the form of your mother was right.'

Before the moment could get too awkward or mushy, Ryan's desk line rang and he picked it up. 'Ryan. Yeah, great, send it up with him.'

'What?'

'Riley Fontina, said he pulled some more data from Eli's laptop that we recovered at the scene, and he's sending up with Yani.'

'Excellent.'

* * *

><p>The data turned out to be transcripts of instant messages and Skype conversations betweeen Yassir and Eli that were dated, Beckett realized with a sickness in her belly, not just to the days leading up to Yassir's murder but going back nearly eleven years. They'd been pass-coded and encrypted, as Eli was using his own personal laptop for the conversations but had been smart enough to use a scrambler so his IP address couldn't be tracked.<p>

'That's one of the reasons we had so much difficulty tracking him down,' Yani explained, tapping a pen on the stack of paper copies. 'This kind of encryption was highly advanced for someone not in computer science or information technology as a specialty field, and Eli was very cautious.'

'So why give up the ghost now?' Esposito asked, sipping his coffee. 'What makes Yassir's murder the last one?'

The unspoken question hovered in the air amongst the group of investigators like a balloon, and Gideon cleared his throat, tried to be as honest yet discreet as possible. 'In all the information and data we collected as we tried to track Eli through the other murders, there was no mention of Shane anywhere in his journals.'

'Isn't that a clue to us, though?' Ryan folded his arms over his chest, looked from his own detectives to the Israeli agents. 'There's no mention of him, yet we know he's involved. And we know he's got a family, a fiancee that would make him an ideal target.'

'You said it yourself, Eli waits until his intended victim has the most to lose, right?' Beckett gestured to none of them in particular. 'Shane's got a lot to lose, and more if Eli has a change of heart, decides to wait him out.'

Gideon shook his head. 'I know it's hard for you all to believe it, especially you Detective Beckett, but Shane isn't a target. If any Weaver was going to be a target, Shir would be, since it's her orders to Yassir that started this whole thing nearly twenty years ago.'

'Right. Sir.' Beckett straightened up when she saw Captain Montgomery walk out of his office, over to his detectives. 'Have you spoken with Shir Weaver today?'

'Yes, this morning, and she's been at the embassy all day, even called to thank me for the tail I have on her diplomatic transportation. What, you didn't think we'd let the possibility of her being a target for Eli Hudek slip past, did you Detective?'

'No, sir, just...forests and trees, Captain.'

'Not to mention you've had a lot going on with your family off the job this week too.' Montgomery shook his head. 'Talk about bad timing.'

'It's not like Alexis had control over her body like that, sir.'

'No, no, I didn't mean any disrespect to Alexis or Shane, just saying it's bad timing.'

As if on cue, the elevator doors binged open and none other than Shane and Alexis stepped off themselves, hand in hand and looking very determined. 'Doctor Weaver. And Almost-Doctor Castle. Or will it be Doctor Castle-Weaver?'

'Just Doctor Weaver,' Alexis replied politely, then looked at the detectives. 'We needed to come by and speak with you, Detectives. Alone,' she added emphatically. 'No disrespect to you Katsa Novak or Katsa Cohen, but it's more of a personal matter.'

'Understood. Captain, we can update you as to what we've been able to discern since this morning,' Yani replied, and the trio of men went into Montgomery's office, closed the doors.

Back by Beckett's desk, the NYPD regulars looked at the .?docid=18795982couple. 'So, what's such a big deal you don't want them to hear it?'

'Not here.'

Shane spied an empty conference room and they filed in; he shut the door and sat down to face them, Alexis by his side. He kissed her hands and looked at Beckett.

'Beckett, I...I think you might have a mole on your team.'

'A mole?'

'Yeah. It's been bothering me when you mentioned on the phone that you were working with Gideon Novak, and I haven't been able to figure it out. Just something about him feels off to me.'

'No offense Shane but you haven't been working with us on this case,' Esposito pointed. 'How do you know what he's like, bro?'

'All I know is that the name Gideon Novak is ringing a bell for me and I don't have it yet, but it feels just wrong.'

'Wrong how, like it's an alias or something?'

'Yeah. Can you let me take a look at his personnel file?'

'The captain has it, but Shane, I don't think he's gonna let you see it just because you have a hunch,' Beckett cautioned him.

'Beckett, he does have a point though,' Ryan said, mulling it over. 'I mean, we just had these guys assigned to us by Shir, what do we know about them?'

'And considering what we know Shir is capable of in her job,' Esposito added, letting the thought hang.

'Okay. Okay, I'll go to the captain. I'm the primary investigator of record on Yassir's homicide,' she said over top of their objections. 'It's ultimately my responsibility.'

'Thank you,' Shane said earnestly, though he wasn't nearly as relieved as he sounded. He turned to look at Alexis, smiled. 'Now can we tell them?'

'Tell us what?' Ryan and Esposito both leaned forward.

'Shane and I have set a date for the wedding,' Alexis said jubilantly and they all erupted into small cheers. 'July eighth. Not next summer, though. The summer after that.'

'Congratulations, you guys.' Beckett leaned over, gave them each a hug. 'Maybe you'll be on the beach for your first dance too.'

'Oh that sounds nice,' Shane commented, then saw Yani and Gideon looking at them through the blinds. 'I think that's our cue to hit the road.'

The detectives all looked over and saw the other agents gazes had wandered in their direction. They stood up, left the conference room and as Shane and Alexis headed towards the elevator, Esposito caught a flash in Gideon's eyes. It was there and gone in less than two seconds, but in those less-than two seconds he felt an arrow of ice hit his gut.

'Who was that woman with Shane?' Gideon inquired casually.

'Shane's fiancee. Nice girl,' Ryan said, noting the tense muscle in his partner's jaw.

'Yani just got word that Shir needs to speak with us about our end of the investigation so we're going to have to adjourn with you early today.'

'Okay, we'll pick it up tomorrow with you, eight am sharp,' Beckett said evenly, pleasantly as they packed up their bags.

The moment they were gone around the corner, being escorted out once more by Julien, Esposito exploded. 'Beckett, Shane's right, there's something off about him. I don't like it.'

'Me neither,' Ryan agreed. 'He's too smooth, he's too quick with an answer for everything.'

'You didn't hear him this morning on the way to Eli's apartment,' Esposito added to his partner, and the two-headed monster stared at Beckett. 'That was just too easy, don't you think, Beckett? That we're dogging it since Sunday morning, today's Wednesday and all of a sudden he pops up with the magical missing puzzle piece?'

'I don't like it either,' she agreed in a low voice. 'We're going to pack it in for the day, work out of my home office. You start dismantling the murderboards, I'm talking to the captain.'

With a subtle nod, the Ry-Sposito monster began to take care of it while Beckett marched into Montgomery's office, closed the door.

'Sir, this cannot wait,' she said to him, despite the fact he was on the phone.

'Call you back.' As his detective wasn't in the habit of storming in and making demands like this, the captain replaced the receiver and folded his hands on the paper-covered work top. 'What's the situation, Detective?'

'I need the personnel files you were given by Shir Weaver for Gideon Novak.'

'When you tell me why, I'll consider it.'

'Sir, I just had another visit from Shane Weaver and he's told us that something is wrong with the guy, and as much as I want to tell Shane we need hard evidence, he's been invaluable in this case, given his connections to the players. On top of which, he's one of the most rock-solid guys I know. If he says it's not kosher, then ninety-nine times out of a hundred it's true.'


	16. A Breath of Fresh Air

'I hope this works, Shane.'

'Me too. I just can't figure it out where I've seen him before.'

Alexis sighed as she locked the apartment door behind her, began to strip off her winter coat and boots. 'Might I ask how you know Gideon Novak in the first place?'

'I don't, not really. I knew his name but not him, he's one of the guys in my mother's department. And I'm done talking about it.'

'You're right.' She went over to the couch, flopped down and patted the cushion beside her. 'It's been a long week and not how I wanted to spend it.'

'Me neither.' Shane flopped onto the couch as well, and put his head in Alexis' lap, allowing her to stroke her fingers through his hair. It might have made him feel slightly like the family hound getting a belly-rub but he loved it. 'There was so much more nakedness to be had.'

'I know.'

'Starting with Saturday.'

'Oh?'

He nodded against her legs. 'Saturday we were supposed to have brunch with your folks and then I was going to make us a romantic early dinner, and then we were going to seduce each other and have manic sex on the living room floor.'

'And how might we have seduced each other into this manic sex?'

'Well...' Shane looked over to his stereo and realized he'd left his mixed CD burned just for that occasion in the player so he wouldn't forget it. 'Actually, that part, we can do right now.'

'Oh, Shane, sweetie I love you but I don't want to get all touchy-touchy if there can't be any follow through.'

'Pervy. Just you wait a tick.'

Levering himself up off of the couch, Shane shoved the coffee table out of the way and pushed a few buttons on the stereo until he had the song he wanted. As the opening strains of Van Morrison's _Someone Like You_ drifted into the apartment he turned around and crooked his finger at Alexis.

'My lovely lady, please join me.'

Charmed, Alexis got to her feet and was in his arms; he kept one hand on the small of her back to keep her close, the other held her hand and kept their linked fingers over his heart as they swayed in time to the soft piano and bass. He breathed her in, his sexy Lexy, and just wanted to lose himself in her. Not just the intimacy of making love, but the feel of her under his hands, the scent of her hair and skin, all of it just made him love her even more.

And the strength of her heart; there was no one like her in the world. She'd gone through her own personal hell on Friday night and was still trying to find her way back. It was the kind of purgatory only a woman could comprehend and he'd done what he thought he could do for her. Then, not two days later when his own mother had broken his world apart and rewritten his history books, she'd comforted and cradled him like a child, letting him grieve as he needed to grieve.

He knew it would be a cold day in hell before he'd let her get away.

'Shane?'

'Hmm.'

'I know you're kinda all talked out right now, but maybe, if I spin a few ideas for the wedding now that we've set a date, you can just listen to them, tell me later what you think.'

'No, I can talk about that. I'd love to hear about that, actually.'

Alexis leaned back ever so slightly to look at him; her head had been resting against the curve of his shoulder into his neck where she'd heard his pulse thickly beating. 'But I thought you said-'

'I said I was done talking about the case. Our wedding is a totally different matter.'

'I've already got my dress fund started up.'

'Really.'

'Yeah, I won the baby pool when Leo and Trini were born, then added fifty bucks to it every week,' Alexis explained with a little blush, 'and I dropped the money into a little account I decided would be for something extravagant and luxurious for myself. Originally, I was thinking a weekend for myself and Sloan at Aqua de la Vie right before Valentine's Day, then you proposed and it became my wedding dress fund, since it will probably be the most expensive single item on the budget.'

'What are we looking at for a budget here, my sweet?' Shane gave her a little twirl on the spot, pulled her back in close to him. 'I've already started putting aside some money for it, and if necessary, I'll take holidays and overtime.'

'Shane, I don't expect you to pay for the wedding. I didn't live in the lap of luxury while at Cambridge, I cut a lot of things way back so that I would have the leftover college fund money for my own use.'

'Really?'

'Mm-hmm.' It had been a bone of contention with her and her father that Alexis insisted on living cheaply as possible with her roommates and a strict budget while he'd wanted her to experience the best England had to offer so no comfort was denied while she was studying. In the end, they'd reached detente and Alexis now understood why the universe had set her on that path and let her win. 'I've got enough set aside in my college fund to make it through medical school without starving and still have this wedding.'

'How much are we talking, Alexis?' Shane, much like his father, loathed financial discussions, but he knew as part of a marriage the money thing was going to obviously be present throughout their life together. 'Five, ten thousand?'

'Almost eighteen.'

'Fuck me.'

'Friday, Shane,' Alexis giggled. 'That happens on Friday.'

'Did you, like, live off ramen noodles and tea or something?'

'No, but I had no landline phone, all my utilities were included in my flat, and instead of a cellphone, I had Skype on my iTouch. Not to mention the fact that my roommate, Jacqui, who was training to be a chef, was the household cook. I rarely ever shopped.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, a lot of her assignments were about budgeting and menu planning so she'd do her homework and projects by feeding us.'

'Similar to what Body did,' Shane recalled, thinking of his roommate making him baked goods all the time to take to his undergrad study groups.

'As a result a lot of the monthly money I budgeted over five years there got dropped into a high-interest yielding trustfund and my father said said since my tuition and other living expenses are covered with what's left, the money is my to use as I please and I want to use a good chunk of it towards the wedding.'

'Okay then. And we're spinning again.'

Shane gave her another twirl. 'There is only one thing I will not bend on, mostly because of my promise to my mother.'

'You want the ceremony to be Jewish.'

'I do.'

'That's fine, Shane.' Alexis gave him a gentle smile. 'You know I'm open to learning about your faith.'

'I know you are.' He tugged on her hair, then kissed her. 'And my yarmulke matches your dress. The ushers' will match the bridesmaids. Any idea on the colour you might like?'

'Well, my bridesmaids would be Sloan of course, and Theresa from England, and my mother, maybe Meredeth or Lanie.'

'I know my best man will be Ryan.'

'Really?'

Shane nodded. 'Think about it. How did we meet?'

'Ah, clever boy.'

'I'll never forget the look on his face when him and Espo came to meet me for poker night,' he laughed, 'and you answered the door with wet hair, and I'm still in a towel from our shower together.'

'That definitely wins the gold medal of how people found out about us.'

'Your dad knew before either one of us said anything.'

'Oh, he finally 'fessed up to that one?' Alexis teased him, and Shane just shook his head.

'I should have put the card in an envelope, I wasn't even thinking he might recognize my hand writing on your Christmas gift.'

'Yeah, less fear of that since you live, or lived past-tense, alone two years ago when we started dating.'

The knowledge that their anniversary was coming up had a thought sparking in Shane's mind. 'Hey, you know what I realized?'

'What?'

'The number of our dating versus our married anniversary won't change, just the month. December eighth, July eighth.'

'Good thing you didn't get it tattooed beside Homer.' She stroked his cotton-covered bicep where his ink was hidden by his clothes. But Alexis saw the look on his face and cocked her head to the side. 'What?'

'You know that phrase that's on your necklace?'

'Yeah.'

'I'm thinking of getting that done on my body, right over my heart.'

'Really?' Alexis wrinkled her nose a little, not in disgust but in interest. 'In like a single line, or a couple of them?'

'It's actually in six lines.'

'Script or block letters?'

'And do I want fries or mashed potatoes, and gravy on the potatoes?' Shane dug his fingers into her ribs, making her squeal shrilly. 'It would be the same font as on your necklace, in a deep blue I think. I like to mix up the colours when I get inked.'

'Right you've got your 'vergiss nicht' in green, right?'

'Yeah. And then when we have children, it'll be whatever colour their birth stone is.'

Alexis pressed her lips together in a smile; hearing him talk about the future like that, about children they'd have when they were still coping with the loss of the one they hadn't even known they'd made, made her feel even more secure in her relationship with him. 'And what happens if we had triplet girls born in October? That's pink topaz.'

'Anyone who calls me a pussy for having my children's names tattooed on my body clearly has no idea what it means to be a real man,' Shane countered. 'A little bit of pink or purple ink is nothing compared to watching your woman suffer.'

'You know I'll probably be lit up like your menorah when that momentous event happens, right?'

'Doesn't matter, I'll be right there dabbing sweat from your brow and giving you ice chips, or if you just need someone to yell at, that's what the husband does.'

'Even if I ask you braid my hair?' Alexis ventured.

'Yep.'

'What about if my legs and bikini zone need a shave and I'm too pregnant to do it?'

'Sure. Oh, oh, sweetheart, it's okay.'

Shane stopped them from moving as he saw the tears sparkle in her eyes. Things had been so blessedly normal since the check-up with Harvey, Shane had nearly forgotten that Alexis still had those hormones to contended with. Talking about future not-as-yet conceived children couldn't have been much help, he realized, so he gathered her close. 'I'm sorry for mentioning it, Lex.'

'It's okay, just hearing about the ones will have and the wedding, and all those things in our future, it's a little overwhelming when I've got all these extra hormones in my system.'

'You feel like some tea, maybe a back-rub or something?'

'No tea, but I'll take you up on that massage.'

They headed for their bedroom, and when Alexis was lying face down in her bra on the sheets, Shane worked the tense muscles there with his fingers.

'I'm excited for that trip with Andrea and Daniel and Nessa next month,' he commented. 'I think it'll be a blast.'

'And it'll be great to have some time just for us. No work, no school, just you, me is going to do us a world of good,' Alexis said in a mumble of delight. 'Think of all the island-y things we'll get to do in the middle of winter. Barbecue without a winter jacket, dancing on the patio of a local restaurant, fresh fruit at the market.'

'Learning to scuba dive, or failing that some snorkeling while we enjoy our brand-new Christmas and Chanukah presents.'

'Breakfast at nine-thirty in the morning, in the little nook off the kitchen that lets in all that tropical sunlight. Andrea sent me a picture of this house where we're staying., and...what, what's with the face?' Alexis asked in concern; she'd turned over to look at Shane and he'd gone pasty as day-old oatmeal. 'Shane, you look like you're going to pass out.'

'Nook. Oh sweet zombie Jesus, Lex.'

'What?' Alexis blinked at him as he leaped up, headed for the little partitioned office. 'What is it?'

'Get your coat, I'll explain on the way.'


	17. A Mind Fuck

In the SoHo loft, Beckett caught a string of melty cheese off her pizza slice with her tongue as she tried to clear her mind and look at the information on their murder-boards. On the couch beside her, Esposito drained his second can of Diet Coke, belched magnificently and sighed.

'I'm trying to see it, Beckett, but I'm not there yet.'

'Me too,' Ryan echoed, picking the green olives off of his slice; he liked the flavour they gave but not the texture in a pizza. 'Let's run it again with what we know from our guys, without the addition of the two Mossad agents' information.'

'Okay.'

Beckett wiped her fingers on a paper napkin, stood up to point at the murder board. 'Yassir arrived in New York on Friday afternoon. He did not have a hotel booked, so it's possible he was staying with friends or family.'

'Maybe he had a side of pork?' Ryan said, making the others groaned.

'Lanie found no traces of sexual activity in his autopsy,' Esposito reminded him. 'Besides, he's married, he probably spanked it to phone-sex or a dirty movie.'

'Jesus, you two, focus!' Beckett wanted to pull her hair out. 'We are investigating a foreign intelligence agent's murder and you are making dick jokes. Could we?'

'Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a little. Continue.'

'He ended up at the hotel on Saturday, and was slated to return to Tel Aviv on Sunday. His flight, according to TSA and the tickets in his hotel safe, were scheduled for nine forty-five out of Newark.' She pointed to the highlighted list of phone-calls directed to his room from the hotel switchboard. 'He checked in around eight in the morning-'

'His credit card was charged at eight-twelve on the fourteenth,' Esposito said, slipping on the reading glasses he hated and Meredeth thought were sexy to check his own notes.

'Detective I can speak for myself.'

'Sorry.'

'Most likely he takes the morning to adjust to Eastern Standard - the hotel key-card info says he didn't leave his room until a few minutes before noon, which coincides with what the front desk clerk says.' Beckett looked at the timeline they'd written. 'When he leaves at noon, he's gone for most of the day. He purchased an all-day all-zones subway card and did some shopping and stopped for lunch at the Bubba-Gump Shrimp Company in Times Square.'

Ryan nodded, made notes in his files. 'He returns to the hotel, and-'

He was cut off by the sudden appearance of Alexis and Shane in the loft, bursting through the door almost like Looney-Tunes characters. There would have been teasing at there not been such a stricken look on their faces.

'Oh, thank god. Mom!' Alexis flew across the room and threw her arms around the detective, knocking her back a full three steps before Beckett got her wits about her and peel her daughter off like a leach. 'You're here, what about Dad and RJ?'

'They're fine, your dad took him Christmas shopping in Tribeca. What's wrong?'

'I figured out who Gideon is,' Shane said, trying to get his nerves under control. 'How much of the investigation does he know about, how much about _you_ does he know about?'

'We've shared a lot with him and Yani, but neither of them know where we live, if that's what you're worried about, Lex,' Esposito said, though his hand drifted to his phone and was ready to call Meredeth in an nanosecond. 'Now, take a deep breath and tell us what's going on.'

'Lex, why don't you grab Shane a drink,' Ryan suggested, not liking the near-puce shade of his friend's skin. 'And one for yourself.'

Alexis nodded and went to the fridge, poured them each an iced tea; Shane gulped his down and steadied himself. 'I'm sorry for all the dramatic entrances this week, guys,' she addressed the group, 'but then again, this isn't exactly a normal situation.'

'No it's not,' Shane said. 'Okay, I'm good.'

'Spit it out, Doctor Weaver.'

'Gideon Novak _is_ Eli Hudek.'

There was nothing but stunned silence in the apartment for a few minutes. Finally, it was Ryan who spoke up.

'Shane, I know you've taken some hard knocks this week, but-'

'No, no, remember how I said there was something about his name that was bothering me? May I?'

Beckett handed over her dry-erase marker to him, and Shane got to his feet, flipped the board around to its blank side. In his scrawling hand, he wrote out _GIDEON NOVAK_ in all capital letters.

'Eli is smart, he's more than capable of creating a fraudulent ID right down to character and criminal references, DNA, fingerprints, the works. He was trained in weapons, but he also trained in counter-intelligence as well, how to blend in with the enemy if he went down in his chopper.'

The Ry-Sposito monster shook their heads. 'I don't understand.'

'It was something Alexis said,' Shane explained as he rewrote the letters of Gideon Novak's name right below it; he stepped back so the others could see the rearrangement. 'It was like everything clicked into place, and I figured it out.'

Esposito squinted at the board in confusion. 'Evading Nook?'

'Evading Nook was the code-name Rachel and I gave to the spot where we'd meet to have sex,' Shane explained. 'Obviously doing it in the barracks was a little tricky so we'd sneak off to this little nook in the forest that bordered the barracks. She liked giving it a code name so that we could talk about it amongst the others.'

'How would Eli have learned about it?' Beckett asked in a surprisingly calm voice.

'Rachel told him after we were late meeting him for a drink at our base cantina, she had to explain it to him lest Eli being the nosy, overprotective prick he was should go asking the others in our squad what it was.'

'It makes sense, then, how he chose that name,' Esposito observed. 'Gideon said that Eli is into symbolism for this revenge murder.'

'And working in the Mossad would give him access to the files on all those men involved in Rachel's death,' Ryan added.

'Did he know you're my future mother-in-law, Kate?' Shane asked, dark blue eyes burning into her face.

'No. No,' she repeated emphatically, and moved to the house-line to call her husband; all listened as she ordered him to come home with their son immediately, no questions asked as she would explain it when he got there. 'Shane, I need to know with absolute certainty if this is him. I can't go to Montgomery unless you are willing to testify in a court of law. It won't come to that, but you have to be that sure.'

'I am that sure.'

'But...okay, I'm on the same page as you here, bro,' Esposito said, shifting forward like he was trying to understand his thirteen month old twins talking with their mouths full. 'So please explain it to me how this would work, if

'I'm willing to be the files my mother has say that Gideon was already in New York, and Eli's been doing this for many years, he's well versed in changing his appearance. Except the eyes. That was the other thing about him that flipped me when I saw Gideon at the station.' Shane shuddered. 'Eli always had intensely creepy eyes, like he was trying to figure out all your secrets by staring at you.'

'We've got the airline security footage from TSA, we've got his passport port photo we've got tonnes of stuff you can look at and tell us if it's really him.' Ryan used a soft voice, the same one he used on trauma victims, before he turned to Alexis. 'Alexis, where do you stand in all of this?'

'With Shane, and with my mother, and with you guys. If Gideon is in fact Eli, and history's on Shane's side that he's right, then I will offer you whatever help and support on this I can.'

'In that case, Alexis, I know you might feel slighted, but we are going to need coffee. A lot of coffee.'

'I can do that.'

* * *

><p>By the time Castle and RJ arrived home, the three detectives and the pathologist had mowed through three pots of coffee along with the rest of the two large pizzas. RJ, ever the lover of the grown-up treats, immediately zeroed in, then pulled up short when he saw the papers and files.<p>

'I wait. I no messit up.'

'Here, RJ.' Shane patted the empty space beside him. 'Come sit by me, big guy.'

'O-kay!'

The little boy scampered up beside Shane, patted his arm. 'How doin', Shan'? Lessis bedda to-day?'

'Yeah, and we're helping the detectives with their investigation.'

'Whassan in-fizzi-gi-shun?'

'That's the word for tracking down the bad guys.'

'Oh.' RJ nodded, filing away his new word, then smiled winningly at Castle when he came over. 'Daddy, we helping in-fizzi-gi-shun.'

'I'm sure you are, but right now, it's time for your nap. No,' Castle held up his index finger at his son who opened his mouth in protest. 'That was the deal, remember?'

'O-kay, Daddy. Lessis nap too?'

'I'll take him upstairs,' Alexis volunteered.

Once the toddler was out of earshot, Castle looked at Beckett with the gravest of concern. 'Okay, so what the fuck is up?'

She outlined it for him, with help from the Ry-Sposito monster and Shane, watched his knuckles clench white at the knowledge. When they were done, Castle looked at Shane with eyes flat and cold as a shark scenting blood.

'If he comes after you and my daughter, I don't care what it takes but you will keep her safe. If it means you lose your job, your medical license, I don't give a rat's wet slapping ass. I have enough money to build you your own morgue if cutting up dead people means that much to you, but nothing can replace my little girl.'

'You think I don't know that?' Shane's voice threatened to crack with the anger and the sorrow and the fear he'd been trying to work through since Saturday. He got to his feet and into Castle's face, albeit at a somewhat safe distance. 'I love her, Richard, she is going to be my wife, the mother of my children. I would do anything to keep her safe even if it meant my life for hers.'

Esposito and Ryan cleared their throats, and Shane looked over to see Alexis at the foot of the stairs. Her eyes were glassy; clearly she'd heard what he'd said as she came over to him and let out a sob.

'Please don't say that, Shane,' she murmured against his shoulder. 'Don't ever say that again.'

'Okay. Okay. I'm right here. I swear it won't come to that.'

'No?'

'No, because we're going to come up with a plan.'

'How?' Alexis' voice turned slightly cynical, and for whatever reason it was the motivation that Shane needed to keep going with Beckett, Ryan and Esposito. 'You said yourself Eli Hudek is an army-trained weapons and counter-intelligence expert. Hells bells, you shave his head and he'd probably turn into Lex Luthor.'

'He's still human. He will do or say something to slip up.'

'After eighteen years of being this cautious?' Castle's voice, like his daughter's, was bitter and cynical. 'We need to figure out some way to do a DNA test on him. Prove it that he's been living a double life somehow. It's how I got the killer to confess to his sins in _All Saints Day_.'

'This isn't a book, Dad,' Alexis reminded him.

'I know, but the research was real. I think I have some of it still in my office.'

'Mom.' Now Alexis turned to Beckett, eyes full of pleading. 'I need a moment alone with Shane.'

'Of course.'

They went upstairs to Alexis' old room which was now an Alexis-themed guest room. Shane sat on the bed as Alexis closed the door and turned to him.

'I want in.'

'Excuse me?'

'I want to help you catch this guy,' she stated. 'I am a fencer, and Mom's taught me to fire a gun, I'm also a green belt in taekwando thanks to my self-defense classes at Princeton. And all of that aside, I'm not about to let you stand in my parents' home and listen to you say that you'd risk you life for me and not let me do the same for you.'

'Lex-'

'Shane. I love you.'

The simple words had Shane shutting off whatever protestations he thought of. One look at her face and he knew that there was no fury like a woman fighting for her man. That would be very useful against Eli.

'I love you too.'

'So I'm in?'

'You're in.'


	18. An Afternoon Working At Home

When they returned downstairs, they weren't surprised to see a third murder board had been set up to look at Yassir's movements as compared to Gideon's on Saturday. Since they were speculating at most, they looked around and realized what they needed to do.

'Shane,' Beckett said when he came over with Alexis' hand held firmly in his. 'We need to bring your mother in on this.'

'I agree.'

'Shane.' She said his name again, tried to give him an understanding look. 'Are you going to have some serious sour grapes over this?'

'Why would I?'

'Because she's about to get a mind-fuck the way you did just a few days ago, learn that someone she thought she could trust is actually undermining her the entire time. I need to know if you'll be focused on bringing Eli down or gloating over your mother's heartbreak.'

'It wasn't Eli's call to make to punish those men for what they did to Rachel. He deserves the punishment of the law, not a vigilante's hand. Otherwise, we're no better than what we swear not to be.'

'Well said.' Castle looked at Alexis, saw the determined set of her chin. 'You've been drafted for this too?'

'He's in-' She jerked her head at her fiance '-I'm in.'

Before anyone could say anything related to the case, they heard RJ whimpering through the baby monitor.

'Omeo, I wan' Mumum, wan' Lessis,' he sniffled pitifully to his beloved bunny.

'Bad dream, sounds like. I'll go,' Alexis volunteered; when she was out of earshot, the detectives continued their at-home meeting.

'The first thing we need to do is figure out the way to prove that Gideon Novak and Eli Hudek are the same person.' Beckett rose, crossed to the board where Shane had been writing. 'And we need to do it so we can prove to the captain and Shir Weaver that these men are in fact the same person.'

'Actually, that might be the cart before the horse.

'Oh?' Esposito looked at Shane, arched an eyebrow. 'You got an idea?'

'The reason my mother was in town was to attend a conference and reception, and she would have had Gideon and Yani with her at the party. We can ask her to get the footage, saying we think one of our suspects might be on it and we need his alibi.'

'Well, since that's the truth, that's not too hard a sell,' Ryan pointed out, 'but what is your mother going to say?'

'Really, Detective?'

'That came out wrong.'

'I'll say.'

Shane just shook his head, took out his cellphone to dial his mother's number. He moved into the kitchen for a modicum of privacy, spoke to her in Hebrew while the others looked on. It was a difficult thing to watch a friend, or lover and life partner in Alexis' case, relive the darkest parts of his past. It was also a beautiful thing to see the way Alexis had stayed steadfastly by her man, never wavering even in the face of her own tragedy they were getting through together.

They heard Alexis through the baby monitor then, talking with her little brother and all felt sick at heart.

'Lessis, I deamin' bad tings.'

'What were you dreaming, little man?'

'You an' Shan' can' find baby. It make me sad.'

There was a rustling, a little sniffle in Alexis' voice as she spoke to her brother. 'Oh, honey, it's okay to be sad about that. The doctor said I'll be fine and Shane and I can still be a mommy and daddy when we want.'

'You sure?'

'Hey look at this face. Would I lie to you?'

'No, Lessis.'

There was a few light thumps which Beckett and Castle recognized as RJ slamming poor Omeo against the side of his crib. 'Lessis?' RJ asked, 'we make tookies?'

'Sure we can.'

'In my tookie-book?'

'Absolutely. You want me to read you a story?'

'O-kay.'

As Alexis picked out a book for her brother, everyone downstairs swallowed the lumps in their throats, wondering how the hell she hadn't completely snapped when RJ asked her such childishly innocent questions it was natural enough for a two-year-old to ask.

'Guys,' Beckett murmured, 'even if we can't wrap this by tomorrow at end of shift, we need to have a little party for Shane and Alexis.'

'I think you're right,' Esposito agreed. 'What about the kids? Or would that remind her that she lost a baby not even a week ago?'

'The kids help, they remind her that it doesn't always have a sad ending,' Beckett replied. 'She's been really good with RJ the last week, and he's sensed she was sad so he's been making the effort to cheer her up.'

'We'll rearrange dinner with Shir,' Castle decided on the spot, hoping the woman would understand. He looked up as Shane came back in the room, phone out-stretched to Beckett.

'She needs to talk to you, make it official.'

As she expected nothing less, Beckett took the phone from Shane and spoke clearly, with authority. Not to instigated a pissing match against Shir, but to show her this was for real. 'Katsa Weaver, Detective Beckett.'

'Detective. What is this my son tells me about you needing footage from the embassy security cameras?'

'It's complicated to explain over the phone, but we believe that we will find the perpetrator of Yassir Lewertow's murder in that footage.'

'I will speak to the ambassador, but it would be better to have a warrant from a New York City judge to back it up.'

Beckett sighed, tried to fight the headache she could feel creeping in. 'I understand, Katsa Weaver, however in order to get a warrant from a judge on making our arrest, we need the footage. It's a catch-twenty-two.'

'Give me until nine pm tonight. I will talk to the ambassador, his head of security. What dates and times are you needing?'

'Last Friday and Saturday, the thirteenth and the fourteenth, starting on the Friday at approximately...' She gestured at Esposito to give her the airline information and scanned the sheets. 'Two fifteen pm and going until eleven thirty pm on Saturday.'

'I won't make any promises of end product but I will do my best.'

'Thank you.'

'Detective,' Shir added. 'If you think Eli is coming after Shane and Alexis, you do whatever it takes to keep them safe. I have weight and will use it in your favour if things go south with Eli.'

'Absolutely.'

'Now let me speak to Scheine again.'

'Hi Mom,' Shane said, switching back to Hebrew once more with her. 'So are we a go?'

'I'll do my best, but don't make any promises I'm unsure I can keep.'

'Of course not.'

'Also, and I don't want to do this, but I think the dinner with your in-laws should be posted to another time.'

Shane breathed a small sigh of relief; it was one less stress to deal with this week. 'Okay.'

'I think it's better if we do it under circumstances that are a little less stressed,' Shir said, choosing her words carefully so she didn't sound like she was trying to get out of the dinner. 'I will call you later, we'll talk about a better time then.'

'Of course. Talk to you soon.'

Shane hung up the phone, then looked up to the noise on the stairs where he saw RJ and Alexis coming down hand-in-hand. The little boy had his precious bunny in the other one and was bopping him along the rails.

'Boun-y, boun-y, Omeo go boun-y,' he sang, then saw Shane sitting with his parents and the Ry-Sposito monster. 'Hi ev-ee-one!'

'Hi RJ,' Shane laughed, and wasn't surprised once they hit the bottom of the stairs the toddler raced over to him, climbed into his lap to give him a big hug.

'How you doin' to-day, Shan' ?'

'Better now that I've had an RJ hug.'

'Whasha doin', ev-ee-one?' RJ looked aorund, eyes wide and hopeful. 'Cashin baddies?'

'Yep, and we need some grown-up space to work on it, my little prince,' Castle added, ruffling his son's hair.

'That o-kay, Lessis and I makin' tookies.'

He gave his father's cheek a little kiss, wrapped his toddler's arms around Castle's thick torso, then to everyone's delight, repeated the process for Shane. 'Mumum, you geddit la-ter,' he told her before going back to Alexis and all but dagging her by the wrist into the kitchen, demanding to know where his 'a-pin' was.

Things could have gone very mushy, so Ryan decided to keep them light by asking his partner, 'Think he'll come over and ask what Trini's favourites are so he can make them for her?'

'Shut up. We've got murder to work.'

* * *

><p>Some time later, after they'd gone through every last shred of paperwork to try and build a case, Beckett felt her eyes beginning to cross. There was indeed a moment of levity when sure enough, RJ had wandered over to Esposito and tried without much success to casually ask the man what Trini's favourites were. When he replied lemon almond, RJ's face pokered up in disappointment.<p>

'I no' no how make-um.'

'RJ, it's okay,' Alexis called to him, holding up RJ's version of the Holy Bible - his cookie recipe book - and tapped a picture. 'There is a similar recipe we can use and fix up.'

'O-kay, Lessis. Tanks, Ja-vee.'

'You're welcome little bro.'

'I no' little. I gonna be two!'

Esposito, clearly no stranger to the indignities suffered by toddlers told they were still little, held up a hand in apology. 'Sorry there, big guy.'

'We wassin' tookie-time. Lessis!' RJ bellowed for his sister to get out the lemon juice and wandered off, making the others snicker at Esposito's slightly stricken look. They watched as he lifted his eyes to the heavens, clap his hands together.

'Dear God, please make the next one a boy who can be Tessi's bodyguard.'

'Why not Trini?' Castle asked.

'Trini's got her twin brother. Tessi is a solo bird and needs her shadow man.'

'Then I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that Dell asked if he could have a one-on-one play date with Tessi after school this Friday?' Ryan teased his partner, though there was no joke in his son's request.

'And with that I think we are done on the investigative front for now,' Shane laughed. 'You guys hungry even after we inhaled that pizza?'

'Sure, why?'

'I'll make my father's splut pea soup with ham and cheese,' he decided, knowing it was an easy recipe to make double and feed them with leftovers. 'Ham on the side, of course, for the herbivore.'

'That sounds delicious.'

Beckett shoved at the table, stood up and deliberately walked away from it, and the boys followed suit, going over to the big-screen TV for a little bit of _Halo_ action. Despite the fact she could kick Ryan's ass at the game and was close to taking Esposito too, she into the kitchen to see her children lining up ingredients and adding them in one at a time.

'Mumum, look, we bakin'!' RJ announced gleefully. 'I bakin' fo' my Tah-rini.'

'You sure are, I'm certain she will love the cookies.'

'Lessis make peppa-tookies.'

'You made peppernoten?' Shane's eyes went greedy as he followed Beckett into the kitchen, the sounds of the video game loud behind him. 'Yet another reason I love you.'

'Cay-fo, Shan'.' Now RJ pointed his little tablespoon at the doctor. 'Lessis no' get fuh-lowers.'

The boy's comment had Shane blinking, realizing that he hadn't bought Alexis flowers to cheer her up from the miscarriage ordeal. Not on purpose, but surely he could do a little bit better in the remembering little things department if he was going to be marrying the woman.

'You're right, RJ,' he agreed, 'I should get Alexis some flowers. Alexis, what kind of flowers do you like?'

'Puh-pah ones, RJ answered for her. ' They 'mell goo'.'

'I think he means the lilacs but they're way out of season right now, so anything that smells good,' Alexis smiled at him. She secretly loved it when her little brother gave her fiance shit over getting her flowers. 'When are you heading out?'

'Now, actually, I'm going to get supplies for feeding the troops my split pea soup.'

'No 'pittin' in soup!' RJ looked appalled. 'That di-gussin' !'

'_Split_ peas, RJ,' Shane chuckled, 'it means the shell of the peas has split open. It's the type we use that makes it taste so good.'

'Oh. O-kay!'


	19. A Stressful Wait

By eight-thirty, RJ was in bed - but not before he'd written a little note with Alexis' help to Trini Esposito to go with her cookies - and the rest of the grown-ups were drinking coffee and tea around the work table in the living room; they'd devised a rudimentary plan for boxing in Gideon.

'So this is the plan?' Alexis looked around at the group of detectives, her father and her fiance.

'You seem concerned, Lex.' Esposito glanced over at her.

'Yeah, I am, it seems too easy to fall apart, and way too simple to catch up someone like Gideon.'

'But the simplicity is why it will work if Shir doesn't come through for us,' Beckett pointed out. 'Would you feel better running through it one more time, Lex?'

'Very.'

Ryan nodded, looked at the boards. 'Castle comes with us to the station, saying that he wants to do some interviews with them on their work for his next Nikki Heat book. He gets them to sign some release of information forms and we take them to CSU to analyse the hand-writing. If it's a match, we bring Gideon into a conference room to talk to him. Calmly and rationally, ask him to explain the discrepancy.'

'And what happens if he refuses?'

'He won't,' Castle shook his head. 'I've met men this arrogant before, hell I _was_ this arrogant when I was in college, and they won't back down when they don't think they'll get caught. Keep going, Kate.'

'When Gideon is in the conference room with us, Shane will come in and address him, and we will go from there.'

Alexis tried for a steadying breath, gripped Shane's hand tightly. 'Mom.'

'He won't be armed, Lex.' Castle could read his daughter perfectly, saw the worry in her eyes as clearly as he could feel it in his own heart. His baby would be in the mix of it too.

'He doesn't need to be. He also knows your my mother,' she added to Beckett, 'and...Shane isn't the only person in that room I love and worry about.'

Beckett nodded, reached over to rip Alexis' hand that wasn't cemented to Shane's. 'There's one of him, and there will be four of us.'

'What part will I have in all of this?' she wanted to know. 'Or am I going to be sidelined?'

'We'll get there Lex,' Shane started, then stopped when his phone rang. He saw the caller ID and felt his gut clench. 'It's my mother.'

'Speaker phone, Shane, so we can all figure this out,' Esposito said in his smooth, controlled way.

The pathologist hit the button, saw the looks of anticipation on his colleague's faces. He felt Alexis' hand, sweaty and nervous in his and he breathed deeply before greeting his mother.

'Mom, what's the word?'

'You'll have your footage within the hour, Scheine.'

Everyone looked around at each other at Shir's words; finally it was Ryan who spoke up. 'How did you manage to get it?'

'When I said that Detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD was investigating a homicide, the ambassador's head of security asked me if it was the same Beckett who inspired the Nikki Heat series and would have sold me his soul if I'd asked for it,' Shir said with no small hint of delight in her voice. 'I would like to be part of this when you examine the footage.'

'Shir-'

'Detective, you've asked me for a favour on good faith. I'm asking for the same.'

It was undeniably a fair request, and Beckett saw no reason to keep the woman out of the loop at this point. 'Okay. Can you come to the loft in an hour?'

'Yes.'

She gave the address, and when Shir was gone, they looked at each other. The air was thick with tension, with nerves, and with excitement as what they were going to do hit home - they were about to hatch a plan to bring down a serial killer eighteen years on the lam from his motherland's authorities; he'd killed six people and potentially had three other targets for his finale, two of whom were in that very room.

Beside Shane, Alexis swallowed shakily. 'Does this mean the original plan is now the back-up?'

'Yes. We move to the next plan. And it's going to take some time, so we need to take a breather here, maybe get some fresh air.'

'A good idea,' Alexis said stiffly.

No one was surprised when she got up from the couch and went to the door, silently put on coat, boots and hat to head outside, nor when Shane did the same and they left together.

She didn't say a word until they were outside on the street, walking towards the market just a few blocks down the street. 'I don't like it, Shane,' she said in a low, controlled voice. 'I really don't like it.'

'You know being around dangerous people is part of my job, Alexis.'

'You're the one with the scalpels and bone saws who rips out hearts and lungs and intestines for a living.'

'You're making me sound like Josef Mengele.'

'Don't make jokes.' Now her voice had a definite wobble in it. 'You told me yourself just how fucking scary a guy Eli Hudek is. For God sakes, he's been hiding in plain sight for the last eighteen years. What if he comes after you?'

'Lex-'

'That's a very real possibility. What if he only said you weren't to blame so he could get close, take you out? I already lost one baby this week, Shane, I don't want to lose another.'

Her words cut him to the bone and Shane watched her composure, so calm and graceful back in the loft, crumble to dust around her as she buried her face into his chest, and began to sob her eyes out. He wrapped his arms around her, breathed deep the scent of her hair as they stopped on the street and he held onto her in the lightly falling snow.

'I love you, Alexis, and I promise you, Eli will not win this one. He so much as breathes on me wrong, and he's fucking done.'

'How?'

'You're forgetting I was trained in the air force the same way as him, and I kept up my practice of krav maga. I'm not some pushover pussy who's gone soft just because I didn't stick with the military the same way he did.'

'Air force officers were trained in krav maga?'

'Yeah, requirement for our survival training. I'm not as fast as I was at nineteen, but I'm still pretty quick.'

'Well, not _that_ quick,' Alexis said with a little sniff, which made Shane laugh.

'There we are, a little smile.' He tipped her chin up with his index finger under her chin, and felt like a slug when he saw the tracks of tears on her cheeks. 'Oh, my sweet, don't cry.'

'I can't help it. I love you so much.'

'I love you too.'

They started walking again, and Shane kept his hand in hers the entire time down to the market, where Shane picked up the box of Earl Grey tea he knew Alexis liked, along with the mixed box of gourmet hot chocolates for the rest of the gang, especially his mother. Like Javier Esposito, Shir was a chocolate hound, and before they got into the boggy morass of the investigation, watching those two duke it out over cocoa and sugar would be most entertaining.

On their way back to the loft, Shane gave Alexis a little nudge in the ribs. 'What do you think of tangerine?'

'The fruit?'

'The colour, for the wedding party.'

'That could look really pretty,' Alexis said, and knew she was truly a bride-to-be when she felt the other stress slip away as she fantasized about her wedding day. 'We could do like a light to dark palate.'

'And if we do like a seaside reception, we can have a clambake for the dinner.'

'No, we can't. We're inviting Lanie, right?'

'Oh yeah.' Shane shook his head. 'Okay, no shellfish, then.'

'We could do soulfood for the reception, but like fancy.'

'You really love your Southern cooking, don't you?'

'I really do. Not like pig's feet and gizzards, but the fried chicken and waffles, the mashed potatoes, sweet corn, biscuits and gravy. Mustard greens with bacon, pecan pie and roasted yams, the peach cobbler. What were we talking about?'

'God, you're cute when you're distracted.' Shane leaned in and kissed her, groaned when she felt her tongue trace the outline of his lips. 'Oh, baby, you might not wanna do that right now.'

'Why not?' she murmured.

'Because everyone might wonder why going to the market would get a standing ovation from me.'

'Just a few days, baby. And tonight, if you want, we can have a little mutual applause.'

Shane groaned again. 'Why must you be such a tease?'

'No, teasing you would be asking if you wanted me to give you a hand in front of everyone else,' Alexis sassed back in a purr. She knew it was her post-partum hormones all over the place that were making her yo-yo so rapidly, but right now, it was working to her advantage.

Upon arriving back at the apartment, they saw Shir had already arrived, and was sitting not in the commandeered living room but at the island with Beckett, a short glass of something in her hands. Beckett glanced over, saw them returning and offered a light smile.

'Shane, your mother was just telling me about when you got your American driver's license.'

'Oh, Mom, no.'

'What, it's a funny story!'

'How is me driving into a parked car funny?'

'Okay, funny to me,' Shir clarified. Her eyes went just a little wider, a little bit greedy when she saw the box of hot chocolate Alexis pulled from the grocery bag. 'Is that a gift purchase or for the house?'

'The house. There's hazelnut, caramel, raspberry, mint, coconut and white chocolate. Would you like one?'

'Let's call it my lettuce to finish the job.'

'Carrot, Mom,' Shane chuckled. 'The phrase is carrot to finish the job.'

'Lettuce, carrot, zucchini, it's all vegetables, no?'

'Did someone say 'chocolate' or am I just really missing Meredeth?' Esposito, who'd called home to wish his children goodnight and promise them breakfast in the morning, appeared as if by magic at his sixth favourite word; Meredeth and his children's names were the top four, followed closely by hearing a jury say 'guilty'.

'Shir, I believe you remember Detective Esposito.'

'Yes, the detective with the plans for baby number four,' Shir recalled, making Esposito gulp like a guppy. 'Where's your partner, the non-meat-eater?'

'Saying goodnight to his kids too.'

'And Scheine, it's your friend Lanie who is having her third baby, correct? My, you are a busy little bunch of beavers, aren't you?'

Alexis bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at Esposito's blush, and stuck her head in the fridge to find milk. 'Anyone want a London Fog?'

'I'd much rather look at these tapes and find out what it is you think is on them that will be so critical,' Shir said.

'All due respect, Shir, we've been dealing with this all day, going on thirteen hours. We're trying to pace ourselves because this is going to go down tomorrow and we will all need our energy. So, Alexis, I will have one. In fact, make a whole pot of London Fog. We've had enough coffee for today.'

Ryan reappeared then, finishing off his phone call; from the conversation snippets, it was easy to figure out he was talking to Dell.

'Okay, big guy, I'll be home soon. You need to get into bed, it's a school night. Did you get your math homework done? That's my boy. Leave it on the table, I'll look it over for you when I'm home. She did? That's awesome, I'll make sure to tell her that in the morning. I love you too. Night.'

'Your son, Detective?' Shir inquired.

'Yeah, he's only six but he's been skipped into grade two already. He's loving it.'

'Hey, you're back.' Castle came down the stairs and when they were all assembled, the party relocated to the living room, the make-shift bullpen as it were.

'So, what is going on that we need such secrecy and embassy security footage?' Shir asked, looking at them.

There was only one way to do it, and Beckett opted to be the one to do it. 'Shir. We believe we've discovered that Eli Hudek has been using an alias for the last eighteen years to hide right under your nose.'

'What is the name?'

'Gideon Novak.'


	20. A Set Up

Shir's face went blank, then clouded. 'Gideon? But that's impossible, he's one of my most trusted men.'

'It's a ruse, Mother,' Shane replied gently. 'He's been living this lie for eighteen years, so that he could do exactly what he's done - have an all-access pass to information on these men.'

He reached on the floor by the coffee table, pulled off the lid to show her the photo albums they'd found in the apartment Gideon had led Beckett and Esposito to. Each thick volume had a name in carefully printed letters on the spines.

'Logan Avital, Moshe Hiram, Yitzhak Rosen, Asher Levy, Gad Boaz and Yassir Lewertow. Those are the men that he tracked down, and killed because of what they did to Rachel.'

They all held their breaths as Shir went glassily pale, then red faced with anger. 'That...that...oh, when I get my hands on him, I'll...and...oh, Scheine, here. Here.'

She dug into her bag, handed over the two discs of security footage. 'Are you in charge of electronics?'

'I am.' Ryan took the discs, popped the first one into his laptop while Castle called up footage on the other computer they were using. 'We're using the footage to compare body language, behaviour, things like that. We know we won't be able to get voice prints, but then, to our knowledge and from what we pulled out of the apartment this morning-'

'Apartment this morning?'

'Gideon gave us a tip, which led us to Eli's hidey-hole where we found all these documents,' Esposito explained. 'There's diaries, the photo albums, journals, articles, and...it just seemed to easy.'

'Easy,' Shir repeated, the single word fighting its way through the fog of her brain.

'We'd been working for three days straight trying to get something, anything, on Eli and all of a sudden Gideon pops up with a tip that gives us a freaking gold mine?' Ryan laid it out with a shake of his head. 'That is just too much of a coincidence in our line of work.'

'I agree. If it were me, I'd have practically put hot coals to my agent's feet until he spilled how he came by it. Do you have a plan in place?'

'Before this goes any further,' Beckett held up her hand. 'Shir, you haven't seen a single shred of proof on our end.'

'You are also some of the most sensible law enforcers I've met. You're not out to preen your own feathers for the cameras, as it were. You, all of you, care about the people you stand for, even when you hate them. And professional opinions aside, Scheine is one of the worst liars I've ever met. If he's telling me this is how it is, then that's how it is.'

Since all of them knew better than to mess with a mother's instincts, Ryan and Castle put their heads together on the laptops to examine and compare footage while Esposito and Beckett brought Shir up to speed on what they'd learned and pieced together. The woman's insight helped, as she was able to confirm or rework the information they had, being Gideon's superior officer.

When the time came to explain the original plan, Shir said nothing as they outlined it, just nodded along and sighed at the end. 'I wish I could tell you there was an easier way, but you've got a plan that makes sense.'

'You think so?'

'Yes, and I don't think there is any need for Shane to be there, nor Alexis. At least, not in the conference room. You have suffered enough already,' Shir told him firmly. 'You and Alexis have had your own tragedy to deal with this week, and the news on Yassir and Rachel breaking open. Don't put yourself through this pain anymore than necessary.'

'I want...I _need_ to see this to the end, Mom.' Shane drummed his fingers on his knees. 'I was the one who figured out that it was Yassir in the alley behind that hotel, I was the one who had the detectives pat his body down to find his badge that night.'

'And I appreciate that position, which is why I'm not telling you to go home or some such thing.'

Beckett and Ryan watched the exchange, noting how eerie it was that it was both a conversation between two officers of the law and a mother-son discussion at the same time. There wasn't exactly a battle of wills going on, but neither was one riding roughshod over the other.

'Shane, I think I agree with Katsa Weaver,' Ryan ventured, using Shir's rank to make the differentiation. 'Now that we have access to the footage form the embassy to make our case, having you in the room would probably make things harder.'

'You can still be in Observation,' Beckett added, hoping she didn't sound like she was patronizing him. 'As can Alexis, but there is no logical reason other than shock value that you need to be in the room with Esposito, Ryan and myself.'

'I think you need some rest, my boy.'

'Mom-' Shane started to protest, then stopped, knowing it was easier to hear her out first.

'I can see the dark circles under your eyes, and the young woman at your side has all of your attention right now.'

'I know it seems rather odd, but Alexis' body is still considered post-partum right now, Shane, she's needing to rest the same way a new mother with a fully delivered infant does,' Beckett said gently. 'If you want, you guys can take the spare room here tonight.'

'That's a nice offer, but we have nothing here.'

'Actually, that's not true.'

Castle looked up from the computer as the disc continued to run the security footage. 'There's some fresh clothes and towels in Alexis' old room. I always make sure there's stuff stocked in there in case something like this comes up.'

'Thanks Dad,' Alexis said in gratitude, looked towards the stairs. As much as she wanted to be included in the goings-on, and so did Shane, her body was crying for sleep. She kissed Shane's cheek, stood up. 'If you don't come up right away, I understand.'

'No, I'll come with you.'

Shane rose as well, and taking Alexis by the hand, they went upstairs to her old room; it felt a little bit like they were teenagers sneaking off at a party only to learn everyone was watching them sneak off to get naked and nasty with each other. Thankfully, when they denied it at breakfast the next morning, it wouldn't feel so icky because it would be true.

He closed the door behind them, and as an afterthought, flipped the lock over. Not that he anticipated someone walking into the room unannounced only to see something they shouldn't, but Shane wanted it for an extra sense of privacy. He turned back to Alexis and saw she was already peeling off her clothes so that when she climbed into the large, comfortable bed, she was naked but for a pair of panties. Shane followed suit, only he went right to the skin and hopped in behind her.

'Haven't done this in awhile,' he murmured, 'stayed overnight at the loft.'

'I think the last time was in June, after we all flew back from my graduation.'

'You don't think anyone overheard us that night, do you?' Shane asked, remembering how they'd made very energetic love despite the draggy feeling of time-zone changes.

'No.' Alexis rolled so she was facing him and felt the surge in her veins. 'God, these damn hormones are just driving me mad. Right now I want to jump you and rattle this headboard like a sailor on leave, and then I think, no I'm not ready yet but you'd do it anyways to make me feel better and that thought makes me want to cry.'

'Oh, is that all?' he teased her and shifting, moved her so that she was underneath him. Shane stretched himself out so those glorious breasts pressed into his chest while he kissed her. He was getting hard as the feel and scent and texture of her, and knew this would be a case to take matters into his own hands in the bathroom, or maybe if she was up for it, Alexis could help him out there too.

Then he heard her soft, whimpering sigh and he pressed his mouth to hers, nibbling her lips softly. They were lush and moist, tasting slightly of warm milk and tea. The long lines of her body, the subtle curves of it against his body were home to him, home and heart and heat.

'Shane,' she murmured as his mouth drifted over her jaw, down her neck. 'Hold onto my hips.'

'Okay.'

Shane did so and he let out a moan of frustration as he felt her grind her hips against his, the friction of their bodies building towards her climax. Then as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and Alexis slumped underneath him.

'I'm sorry, I just...I don't want our first time together again to be like this. I want the romance of it.'

'Then we'll wait, my sweet,' Shane said, even as the blood roared in his head. 'Music, wine, flowers, candles, the works.'

'Okay. In the mean time...'

Alexis nudged at his shoulders so that he lay on his side, and she slipped her hand between their bodies to work him. His head fell against her shoulder as her delicate touch nearly drove him mad, until she gave him release and the stress of the day, the anxiety of tomorrow burst like a bubble poked with a pin. Reaching past him with her other hand, she found the tissues and tidied them up. When there was no more mess, Shane pulled her close and kissed her fiercely.

'We will get this asshole, Lex, and then you and I are having all night sex. I don't want to leave our bed if we can help it.'

'That makes two of us. But tonight, just...sleep.'

'Sure.'

Shane kissed her once more, murmuring that he loved her, and she murmured it back to him. It was the last conscious thought he had before they fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Shane was wide awake a solid twenty minutes before the alarm went off for six am. By nature, he wasn't a morning person, yet he had an uncanny ability for adapting his body's needs against his situation so he did the best he could to try and fall back asleep for another few minutes but it was a no-go.<p>

Today, the tears, the bloodshed that had resulted from Rachel Hudek's death would be put to rest. They had Eli Hudek, aka Gideon Novak, and they would show him that everything in him that had twisted and blackened in the name of being an avenging angel wasn't meant to be used that way.

He turned on his side to watch Alexis sleep a little longer, thought of everything they'd been through since Friday and Shane knew without this was his wife. Maybe they wouldn't officially be a mister-and-missus for a little while yet, but in his heart it was a done deal.

She shifted, stretched and Shane moved closer to inhale the scent of her; it wasn't as strong today since they weren't in their own bed, but it was there nonetheless. When those beautiful blue eyes fluttered open to study him, he felt an overwhelming sense of courage.

'Morning,' she rasped in her pre-coffee voice. 'You been up long, sweetie?'

'Ten minutes. You can sleep another ten if you want.'

'Not even if Daniel Brick knocked me out with his treasure trove of goodies.' She kissed him in a way she hoped conveyed her belief in him that everything would go right today. 'You want a shower or breakfast first?'

'Food. If I have a shower first, I'll skip breakfast so I don't sit down and I need a meal today.'

'Okay.'

They dressed to head downstairs and were met with the scent of one of Alexis' favourite foods - chocolate chip pancakes. A quick glance in the kitchen told them Castle had made breakfast; their sweet, yeasty fragrance had something sparking in Shane's mind.

'Who's taking care of RJ today?' he asked.

'My mother,' Castle replied. 'She'll be here shortly and you might see a rare sight - her without the war paint.'

'That would be a rare sight.'

'In the mean time, grab a plate, because these are ready.'

They all sat down, tried to keep the conversation light, but it was a wasted effort - they all knew what was going to happen today, and felt as those talking about anything else would be too much of a distraction. Pretty soon the only sound in the loft was the clinking and clanking of cutlery on plates, the occasional refill of juice or coffee, until finally, Beckett downed the rest of her coffee just as Martha was walking through the door.

'Good morning, darlings, I hope I'm not too late.'

'Nope you're perfectly on time.' Beckett got up, picked up her plate as she addressed the rest of the table. 'Time to roll out, troops.'


	21. A Morning Show

They timed it so Ryan and Esposito arrived in the precinct garage mere minutes after Castle, Beckett, Shane and Alexis. They used the lowermost level to avoid possibly seeing Yani and Gideon come in at street level. Shir had texted Shane, she was already in the captain's office, and both would be coming into Interview with Gideon - more space and the fact it was recorded in order to keep everything on the up-and-up, was the general consensus amongst the group.

The group of six met at the elevators, looked at each other.

'Okay, you've all got your roles,' Beckett reminded them. 'If something doesn't go perfectly, we'll improvise. Not my favourite word for something like this but a lot hinges on Gideon's response.'

'No pressure or anything,' Esposito added glibly, and the group laughed a little before Ryan and Esposito stepped onto the elevator. 'See you in a few, Beckett.'

The elevator doors closed and Beckett allowed herself to close her eyes and pray a moment that her plan - their plan, everyone present had had a hand in it - would go off like clockwork. She counted fifteen steamboats in her head, then looked at her husband. 'Okay, it's our go now.'

Before she stepped forward to push the lift button, Castle took her face in his hands and gave her a juicy, steaming kiss. 'However this goes down, remember I love you and we will catch the mother-fucker.'

'I love you too. Now let go before I punch you. This is still my office, as it were.'

The elevator car returned, empty of the Ry-Sposito monster and they stepped on, gave Shane and Alexis a brisk nod. 'We'll see you shortly.'

The ride up, the gears sounded like fireworks thundering in Beckett's head. Or maybe it was the echo of her heartbeat in her ears. Because they were alone, she murmured to Castle, 'I'm a little scared.'

'And so you should be. Eli Hudek is the devil.'

'Wha-'

'Think of RJ. Can you imagine him going on a rampage in the name of justice if something happened to Alexis?'

'No.' Beckett shook her head. 'No, I can't, and that's the difference. Whatever she was, I'm sure Rachel wouldn't have wanted her brother to do this.'

The elevator stopped and Beckett's belly jumped; the doors had opened and she saw Ryan and Esposito at their desks with Gideon and Yani already. Ryan glanced up and winked so that it looked like he was fighting a spasm rather than giving a signal. They watched as he clapped his hand to his eye, and Esposito came over, helped him to the break-room. When Gideon and Yani were alone, Castle said out of the side of his mouth, 'Showtime.'

They stepped off together, and she put a little sneer in her voice, an annoyed expression on. 'Really, Castle, does my work not mean anything to you?'

'Of course it does, and I promise I won't get in the way.'

'Oh really, like you didn't get in the way on the forged passport cases, or like you didn't get in the way on the Bobby Mann homicide?' Beckett cocked her head to the side, knowing her antics with her husband wouldn't attract attention from the likes of Karpowski or Geoffs or Newman. They were far too used to the kiss-and-slap routine she had with him. 'Why don't you just run along and play with your typewriter?'

'Troubles?' Yani asked, looking concerned and a little starstruck.

With a practiced resigned sigh, Beckett turned around and spoke directly to Yani. 'Ever have one of those people in your life who just won't quit no matter what you tell them?'

'Yes, I'm married too, Detective.'

'My husband seems to think the fact I am working with two Mossad agents is a perfect opportunity for him to come into work with me. Nevermind that it means getting a babysitter for our son or that those agents have work to do, no he just thinks they're there for his own amusement.' Beckett threw him a dark look and felt his amusement disguised in the mocking sneer he gave back.

Was it any wonder she loved him so?

'Gentlemen,' Castle said, taking his cue from his wife, 'I'm doing research for my next Nikki Heat book. My murder victim is, like Yassir, an international agent gone rogue, which means that Nikki, Lauren, and Roach will have to work with the murder vicitm's colleagues to solve the case.'

'That sounds very interesting.' Yani leaned forward. 'Are they Mossad like us or are they like James Bond?'

'Somewhere in the middle. Anyways, I thought since my wife is working with two foreign intelligence agents such as yourselves this week, it would be ideal for me to tag along and see if either of you would be up for an interview, a kind of character profile.'

'And I kept telling him no,' Beckett interjected, performing her lines perfectly. 'We are people with _real_ jobs, doing _real_ work, not little Wikis of information he can google.'

'Well, we might have a little time today.' Gideon scratched his chin, looked at Yani. 'We're still going through all the information we culled yesterday from Eli's hidey-hole, seeing if we can piece together what his next move is.'

Despite the fact the whole scenario was a con, Castle's excitement over doing the research was genuine. 'Excellent!' he crowed triumphantly, sent a smug little grin in Beckett's direction. 'I just need you to sign these.'

He pulled the file from his bag, the one discreetly marked with the blue and purple 'official' stamps instead of the usual black and red, and passed them the dummy papers. 'Standard release of information to protect you, says that you agree to let me use on-record interview details in my work and that my misuse of said information would give you the right to take legal action against me for breach of confidentiality.

'This is standard?' Gideon looked from Castle to Beckett, who rolled her eyes before nodding.

'Yes, it is.'

Beckett watched Gideon with intensity masked as annoyance directed at her whimsically-minded hubby. She'd never given much thought to the way people held the pens or signed their names, but in these ten seconds, it was the entire world to her.

'There.' Gideon handed Castle back the paper, clicked his pen shut before turning back to Beckett. 'You're okay with this?'

'Not at all, but I've known my husband for far too long to dream he'd let this go.'

Yani gave a short laugh. 'Yes, you have indeed been married, Detective Beckett,' he chuckled as he also gave Castle the form.

'So, where do we go to do this?'

'One of the interview rooms,' Castle replied smoothly and actually felt a chill when Gideon's eyes remained blank. 'That way I can not only use the tone of your voice for nuance but study body language as well.'

'An excellent idea.'

_That's right, you little fucker_, she thought blackly, _step in to our web_. On cue, Beckett's desk phone rang. 'Beckett.'

'It's Espo. We're with Riley, ready to go.'

'Really?'

'And Trini says thanks to RJ for the cookies.'

'I'll send him right over,' Beckett said, glaring at Castle. 'Thanks.'

She made a little show of slamming down her phone and hands on hips, looked at Castle. 'Richard, did you promise that I'd have my Weber report to Riley Andrews by last night?'

'Maybe?'

'Well, shit, thanks for telling me that.' She pointed to the stack of folders on her desk. 'Now I have to find it in this swamp of standing reports and it's not going to be done until end of shift. Thank you very much.'

'Want me to help you find it?' Castle, with his own file in his hands, went over to her desk, purposely set down his folder and began to look at the name tabs on the stack. He sucked in a little breath, hoping this version of the Lazy Susan would work. Taking a file or two off the top of the stack, he pretended to fumble a little and purposely dropped one, sending paper all over her desk.

'Jesus, you're like a monkey at the zoo!' Beckett sneered. 'Just pick this shit up and get it to Riley. _All _of it, Castle, because if he misses something it's going to be me and my ass that gets fried in court for not filing the proper paperwork.'

Castle nodded like the apologetic hubby he was pretending to be, and as he scooped up the folders, took his faux-stamped one with it on the very bottom. 'Consider it done.'

He walked away to the elevator and when he was inside, he texted her a little message - _well played my love. You sure your unmarried was Kate Beckett and not Winslet?_

Up by her desk, Beckett felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket, looked at the message with a little smile, and texted Esposito a short message - _we're on like Donkey Kong, boys_. 'My son,' she told the Mossad agents. 'He's all excited because he sweet-talked his babysitter into chocolate chip pancakes. I do apologize for that little spat, but-'

'Oh, Detective, it's understandable.' Gideon waved her off nonchalantly. 'People who don't come into a lot of police stations treat it like a museum, full of things to touch and buttons to push.'

It was in that moment that Beckett saw the mask of Gideon drop away and Eli the ruthless sociopath was in control. There was no little bit of sympathy in his voice, it was all derision, the kind of man who detested all civilians who weren't as disciplined as him. She felt only a small pang of fear and used it. 'I know, it's like they don't understand what it is we do here.'

'Morning Detective.' Esposito came out of the break room with two coffees in his hands,

'Where's Ryan?'

'Men's room, flushing his eye, I think he got some kind of infection from the kids,' he replied.

'And where's my coffee?'

'Sorry, didn't have enough hands.'

Beckett huffed out a sigh, marched into the break-room which had its blinds drawn, and she saw Ryan sitting there with his latte, hers waiting for her on the table. 'Nice job with the eye spasm, caught that just before I got off the elevator,' she said with a smile.

'Kudos to you for reaming Castle. Bet he'll be sore tomorrow.'

'Oh, he will be, but for much better reasons,' she replied, sipping her latte and giving Ryan a slightly evil grin. 'Esposito's not the only one who can make sex jokes.'

'You were right, we are all _way_ too close. So am I hanging out here, or what?'

'Give it a minute or two more, then head down to meet Castle and Esposito in CSU. I'll find something to keep Yani busy for a moment, then ask him to head down to you guys.'

'Kinda like the lady who pretends to be jumping off a cliff to her death only she's actually landed just a few feet below in the arms of her cunning and protective lover.'

'What?'

'Something I read in a book once,' Ryan said, not wanting to tell his superior officer that it was from a rather steamy bodice-ripper she'd read to him in bed the night before to put him in the mood. 'Does Yani know where to go?'

'He will.' Beckett looked at her watch, grabbed her coffee cup. 'Thanks, Ryan.'

'Anytime.'

She left the break-room, went back to where Gideon and Yani were going through files, making notes. 'Ryan's decided to go to the emergency room, his eye has started swelling up and you can't be a cop if your vision is crappy, even on paperwork days like today.'

'Understandable.'

The trio glanced over as the door to Captain Montgomery's office opened and he stepped into view. 'Detective Beckett, I'd like a word with you, please.'

'Of course sir. Keep going on those documents,' she said to Gideon and Yani. 'No way to know when something will step out at you.'

She held her tongue until she was in his office with the door closed, gave Shir a polite nod. 'Katsa Weaver, you're looking rested.'

'Years of practicing meditation and yoga so I didn't lose my mind over Scheine or my job. Between one or the other, some kind of hell was always breaking loose. How is our little bit of theatre progressing?'

'Very well. Neither of them has raised any suspicions. They think Castle's an incompetent tagalong who is better at annoying me than helping me.'

'He's your husband, he'll have that quality no matter what,' Shir chuckled, thinking of Chaim. 'How long am I going to be hiding out in the captain's office?'

'Until I give you the signal we agreed upon.'

Shir gave her a little salute. 'Ten-four, I believe is the American expression?'


	22. An Entrapment

_Hello all my Crumbsians peeps! Are you all seething with red-hot rage over the total LACK of Castle in this year's Emmy nominations like me? Seriously, what does a show have to do to get a nom? Well, in the mean time, the TV show peeps are hard at work for s4 and I'm here to tell you that this chapter and the next are IN-TENSE! Read, and remember to breathe!_

* * *

><p>'What time is it?'<p>

'Almost eleven.'

'Jesus, that's it?'

Alexis gave a half-laugh, sipped her tea. She and Shane had walked down the block after leaving the precinct garage to a bookstore and perused its selections until they were bored of waiting and waiting for the text-message that would signal them to come to the precinct. After trying to keep themselves occupied at the tropical fish emporium three blocks north of the precinct and the vintage music shop two blocks east, Shane suggested they try his father's trick and focus on a delicious meal to distract themselves. They stalled for time by debating where to eat so they wouldn't be caught and screw up the plan, and settled on the Blue Moon Cafe, a little sandwich spot near the precinct her parents and the other cops in their family loved to eat at when they were pressed for time.

They'd just sat down and already Shane was checking his watch, which had Alexis reaching over and gripping his hand tightly. 'Shane, my sweet,' she told him, using his term of endearment for her back on him, 'Both our phones are fully charged, they will contact us when the time is right. You know this is a house of cards, and one wrong turn-'

'I know, I just...I want to look that fucker in the face and tell him that there is a special seat reserved for him in the deepest circle of hell for what he did.'

'Or that.'

'I'm sorry, sweetie, but you get it.'

'I do.'

Shane gave her a little smile. 'There's a phrase I like hearing from you.'

'Don't worry, by the time July eighth rolls around, I'll be an expert on Jewish wedding traditions.

'About that.' He sipped his coffee and gave Alexis a considering look. 'What if we did an interfaith ceremony?'

'How do you mean?'

'I mean take elements from the Jewish and Christian ceremonies and put them together, like the reading of the Seven Blessings and the First Cory-somethings.'

'First Corinthians?' Alexis giggled.

'Yeah, that. We can have a blend of vows and our prayer promises, and the blessing of the wine and-'

'Okay, I get the picture. I think that sounds lovely, but didn't you promise your mother you'd do the Jewish wedding all the way?'

'Let me handle my mother,' Shane said, then paused. 'That was another little married moment, wasn't it?'

'A little bit.'

'Here we are.' The waitress approached them with their orders in hand, put the plates on the table. 'Chicken biscuit with potato chips and extra honey mustard for the lady and for the man Roast beef BLT with Swiss cheese and ranch dressing, and chips on the side.'

'Thanks.' Shane dove into his sandwich and sighed. 'Mercy me, that's good, and so not kosher.'

'Cause of the beef?'

'The beef and cheese together. You're not supposed to mix meat and dairy, but that's mostly the conservatives and orthodox followers. I'm a reform Jew, and I regularly break the rules.'

'Really?'

'Oh yeah, I was the first boy in our temple to request fried shrimp at his bar mitzvah dinner. My grandmother nearly had a stroke of shame, so my mother made me have barbecued brisket and pea soup at temple after the ceremony.'

'Aw, that sucks.'

'Meh, not really, it was a luncheon thing at the temple, and then for dinner, just her my father and myself, she made us fried shrimp and potatoes at home. She made this amazing goat's-milk parsley garlic butter for them, and-'

Shane's trip down memory lane was cut short when he heard the ringing of his cellphone, looked at the incoming message from Esposito - _just called Beckett. We have DNA, hand-writing, and the film footage to nail Eli to the wall. Where you guys at?_

_Blue Moon Cafe across from the precinct, lunch was just delivered_, Shane texted back.

A few seconds later, there was a second chirp of the phone with Esposito's returning message - _take your time, eat, don't rush. You should be in the building no later than twelve-fifty_.

'What's the word, my man?' Alexis asked, dragging chips in the puddle of mustard.

'We have to be in the building by twelve-fifty. Montgomery's calling them together for an update.'

'Right.' Alexis swallowed, pondered it. 'Do you think this will work?'

'I really do. I think your mother's a fantastic detective, and Castle knows people like no other man I've met. It's not going to turn into a firefight in the middle of the precinct.'

'I know but...I can't help thinking of the Jackie Coonan case.'

'Refresh me?'

She wiped her hands and mouth on her napkin, reached for her tea. 'Jackie Coonan, according to my dad, was a spine twister for the Irish Mafia in Hell's Kitchen. He found out someone was running dope in his neighbourhood and then found out it was his brother Dick, and Dick stabbed him thirty-something times in the chest.'

'Ouch.'

'Anyways, when they figured out that it was Dick who was the killer and not the mysterious Rathbone he claimed was the killer, he had about four seconds where he took out the holding-cell guard, grabbed his pistol and had my dad in a frog-march with the gun pointed at his liver.'

'Gideon and Yani aren't armed, they only carry their weapons to go into the field,' Shane reassured her, hearing the unasked question loud and clear 'And before you say it, keep in mind Yani won't be in there, Rick, Ryan and Esposito have already taken care of him.'

'That sounds like it was a mafia hit.'

'Yani is going to be running fingerprint scans with Riley and Andrews in CSU so he will be out of the way. Gideon is going to be surrounded by Ryan, Esposito, your mother, Captain Montgomery and my mother. There is no way he will walk out of that room a free man.'

Shane ran his tongue over his teeth, not surprised he was just as anxious as his fiancee. It had been awhile since he'd been in a hand-to-hand combat outside of training and he wondered if he'd be able to live up to his promise of keeping her safe, should it come to that.

'It's not that I don't trust you, it's just such a dangerous situation. He's trained for these kinds of things...' Alexis trailed off, bite into her sandwich. 'And who knows what he's picked up in nearly twenty years of underground living.'

'You'll be there watching the whole thing with me.'

'I know.'

He smiled at her and the way the soft light of a mild November morning hit her face, gave it a kind of heavenly translucence, Shane knew this would work itself out. 'What about a cruise?'

'I thought I said no boats, that was my one veto.'

'No,' Shane chuckled, 'not for the honey-moon, for the ceremony. Daniel told me about this place he took Andrea for a fancy dinner when she was feeling really down about being hugely pregnant and he mentioned they do weddings. It takes us out from West Seventy Ninth Street, and cruises down to Liberty Island.'

'Sounds pretty.'

'And then we can have our first dance at sea,' he added, getting excited at the look on her face. His sense of victory was crushed when she reached over, patted his hands.

'Shane, we're not getting married on a boat. No. Boats.'

'I don't understand your aversion to big boats, you had a great time when we were up in the Hamptons and tooling around in your dad's speedboat.'

'That's a little boat, I'm okay with little boats because there is time to escape when something goes wrong. The bigger the boat, the more I think I'll live out the last hour of _Titanic_.'

They ate, chatting more about wedding ideas to bridge the void that threatened to fill up with anxiety. By the time they got their check, it was quarter to one - somehow they managed to spend a whole hour and forty-five minutes in the coffee shop without a single person asking them to move it along; probably they were used to dealing with cops - and they used the main entrance to make sure they were seen by Julien the receiving officer. Whether or not he was in on the heist was unknown to them but nonetheless stoic Mount Julien, for the man dwarfed the not-so-slouchy Castle, lead them up to the Homicide floor. They'd barely made it from the doors to the mesh-lattice wall when she saw her mother walking out of Montgomery's office with Shir and she called out to her in a friendly voice.

'Mom!'

Beckett turned and gave Alexis and Shane a genuine, warm smile. 'Hey, guys, what are you doing here?'

'Thought we might pop by, see if you were in house and had time for a bite of lunch,' she replied, reciting her lines perfectly.

'Oh, sweetie, that sounds great but I'm just about to go into a meeting with the captain and the other Mossad agents. Unless...' Beckett turned to Montgomery. 'Would you mind if they observed us? Shane's an ME already and Alexis will probably head down the same path, consider it a medical student's career research.'

She was damn good, Montgomery thought bemusedly. 'I don't have a problem with it, but it's observation only, behind the mirror.'

'Understood.'

'I'll show you the way.'

Beckett watched them go with Montgomery, and only if you knew them both well could you see their nervous tell-signs - Alexis was drumming her fingers on her purse strap, and Shane kept pursing his lips up like his beloved pet fish. But they were subtle things, and unless you knew to look for them, it just looked like a young woman nervous about being in a police station, escorted by her fiance.

'Round two,' she murmured to herself, and pulled out her phone, sent a text to Riley Fontina: _where are we with the fingerprint scans?_

_Can it, Detective, you'll get them and they'll be sent with your Mossad man when they're ready_, was the reply; even on a phone message, Riley managed to sound impatient and terse.

Nodding, putting her phone into her pocket, Beckett approached Gideon, where he sat on the kiddie-corner end of Esposito's work station. 'Katsa Novak?'

'Yes.' Gideon looked up, the perfect study of a man deep in thought who'd been distracted. Beckett wondered how long it had taken him to perfect that expression.

'We are going to be updating the captain and Katsa Weaver momentarily.'

'Should I let Yani know?'

'He's already be taken care of,' Beckett replied, unwittingly echoing her future son-in-law's words to his fiancee. 'We're meeting in one of the interview rooms, so that the update can be on record in the event a court of law needs to see proof of something.'

'Do you usually operate that way?'

'Only when the case is particularly sensitive, like this one.'

She waited while he stood up, and walked with him towards the selected interview room. This one had been specifically chosen, as it was farthest from the noise of the bullpen for the other officers to know something major was going down, and closest to the holding tanks so that they had solid back-up not fifteen feet away.

Beckett held the door open for him, and saw Montgomery and Shir in there already. The captain was seated on the table, while Shir had taken one of the five chairs. 'Sir, Katsa Weaver.'

'Detective. Do you mind telling me what was so important that I cut a morning with the ambassador of Israel short to attend this little meeting?' Shir folded her hands primly on the table, looking like a school marm waiting for the naughty student to answer her question.

'Yes ma'am, I believe- we believe,' she deliberately corrected, 'we're close to finding Eli Hudek.'

'After eighteen years? I doubt it.'

The haughty sniff was a nice touch, Beckett thought as she sat down, looked at the thick file on the table by Montgomery's leg. She wasn't at all surprised when Gideon took a seat beside her. Beckett went into full ass-kissing diplomat mode, a move that was sure to keep Gideon on his heels. 'Thanks to your co-operation with this investigation, and the addition of two exemplary agents, we have been able to track down Eli's residence under a false name in this city, and upon examining the documents found therein, we have what is tantamount to a confession.'

'It's not the same as having him in hand,' Montgomery, ever the elder statesman, reminded his detective.

'That may be true, sir, but we believe that he has, in fact, turned himself into police custody already.'

'And how did you decipher that?'

'He's in this very room.'

Now the simpering suck-up was gone and Beckett turned to face Gideon with an Arctic-frigid stare. 'Isn't that right, Eli?'


	23. An Interview

'What did you call me?'

'I called you by your birth name. Eli Horowitz Hudek, born May twenty-ninth nineteen seventy-five in Jerusalem.' Beckett opened the file that Shir had produced from her bag. 'You had one sister, Rachel Miriam Hudek, born March fifteenth, nineteen-seventy-four also in Jerusalem. She died October eighth nineteen-ninety-eight.'

'Rachel Hudek was a traitor and a slut.'

'That's no way to talk about your sister, Eli.'

'I have no idea why you keep calling me that.'

'Really, that's the card you're going to play?' Montgomery stood up, knocked on the one-way glass of the room. He knew that Esposito was on the other side, as was Ryan with both eyes perfectly fine, and waiting to pounce.

In a few seconds the Puerto-Rican was in the room, a laptop in hand. He said nothing, just squared the screen up in front of Eli and pushed a button and was out the door once more.

'This is you at the Israeli embassy on Saturday afternoon,' Beckett said calmly, pointing to the image on the left as it moved and chatted with a well-dressed couple, champagne glass in hand. She moved to the other side of the screen, pointed to him in line at customs. 'This is you arriving at Newark Airport the previous afternoon.'

'I flew in the day before. Why are you showing me this?'

'Wait for it. There.'

Beckett froze the images together as both videos showed Eli brushing at the hair on his brow, the exact same gesture in both videos so precise they could have been clones. 'Little ticks like that can't be faked, Eli, they're in the subconscious. And there's also this.'

She produced the information release form, blown up and portioned and compared to excerpts from the diaries they found. 'Our techs were able to do some analysis and while these superficial styles are different, they were able to determine that the same person wrote these, only they switched hands to do so.'

'Please sign your name.' Montgomery shoved a piece of blank white paper at the man. When Eli picked up the pen in his right hand, signed the paper with 'Gideon Novak,' the captain shook his head. 'I said please sign _your_ name.'

'Eli, we can do this all day,' Shir told him gently, far more gently than he deserved. But she remembered Rachel Hudek well, and despite the fact she'd sold herself to the enemy, she'd always been a gentle soul, far more compassionate than her volatile brother. 'Do you want to waste the time or do you want to give us an explanation?'

The tone Shir used had a little light akin to sympathy perking in Eli's eyes and was gone when he opened his mouth.

'Why do you need an explanation? I led those detectives to that apartment, I practically fucking gift-wrapped that cache.'

Beckett flicked a glance to Montgomery. 'Eli, if we're going to take this any further, we need to read you your rights.'

'Go ahead.'

She recited the American Miranda rights, and when she was done, the first question out of her mouth was, 'How the hell did you protect your fingerprints?'

'How do you mean?'

'You would have been flagged with your fingerprints in the military database under your birth name.'

'Let me tell you something, when you have the right connections to discreet surgeons in Switzerland, anything's possible.' Eli gave them a little smirk that was almost gloating. 'Rachel's money might have been dirty but I put it to good use changing myself.'

'And your voice?'

'See above answer.'

Behind the glass, as the detectives continued to drill him on these basic questions, Castle, Ry-Sposito, Shane and Alexis watched with sweat chilling on their skin. They had him, he was on the point of digging his own grave. So why this creepy feeling?

'I don't like it,' Esposito said, and the others nodded in agreement.

'Why not?' Alexis asked, feeling very stupid for missing what they all obviously saw. 'We all know he's riding on this, he's obviously using this time to preen about what he's done. Eighteen years of keeping his schemes to himself, living with the duality of his lies. But it's not bragging, it's relief.'

'How do you mean, Lex?' Shane asked.

Alexis looked at him. 'Think about how you felt the first time we had sex,' she started and the other three men all groaned uncomfortably.

'Honey, I'm right here,' Castle winced.

'Come on, Lex, we know you two...do that,' Ryan said with a little shudder, 'but we don't need to know about it.'

'I'll buy you a beer later, Lex,' Esposito winked at her, 'you can tell me all about it, maybe give me an idea or two to use on Meredeth to get our fourth musketeer.'

'Stop corrupting my baby.' Shane wrapped his arm around her in exaggerated protection, making Alexis chuckle a little as she kept going. 'Continue, my sweet.'

'It was awesome, and when something like that happens, what's the male instinct?'

'To strut and brag about it.'

'Exactly. Now imagine we were together for eighteen years and you had kept that to yourself.'

'That's why you're going to be the top-dog shrink,' Ryan told her with a wink, then turned his attention - as they all did - back to the action in the room.

On the other side of the glass, Beckett had no way of knowing she shared the others' concerns as she listened to Eli tell them about his exploits. Something in his tone told her this was not going to be that simple. There would be a firefight, an avalanche and she kept her nerves on edge, her senses alert to try and anticipate him.

'Walk us through the events of last Saturday.'

'Which part?'

'Don't get cute with us Eli,' Montgomery warned him. 'The only reason we're doing things like this is because of the enormous respect I have for Shir Weaver and her son.'

'He knew who you were the moment he saw you,' Beckett added, relishing in no small part that little bit. 'He didn't put it together right away, inside he knew.'

'Shane always knew how to dig at people like that. It's no wonder my sister opened her legs up for him, he probably hypnotized her into it.'

'Careful, Eli. Now walk me through Saturday. When did you first speak to him?'

'I sent him an email as Gideon, told him I'd be in town on business and wanted to know if he wanted to get together for a drink.'

They'd already culled that information from the CSU techs, but Beckett wanted to hear it from him. When Eli just examined his nails, she knocked her fist on the table. 'Eli, come on, it's not rocket science so cough it up.'

'Fine, Detective, but fair is fair.' He smirked like a mouthy teenager. 'You gotta tell me one thing. Did Shane do him?'

'Excuse me?'

'Was Shane the one who cut him up for the autopsy?'

The mirth in the man's voice had even Montgomery's seasoned eyebrows winging up. 'Why is that important, Eli?'

'Because there's a rather poetic justice to it. Yassir held a gun to Shane's head while Rachel died, and then Yassir dies and Shane puts a knife in his heart. Not exactly Shakespeare but you get my drift.'

'That may be the coldest thing I've ever heard in my life.'

'You didn't answer my question, Captain,' Eli sneered, enunciating every syllable.

'No.'

'Tell us about the murder,' Beckett pressed.

'Yassir was easy.' Eli shook his head, leaned forward. 'Such a little scout, all it took was a phone call from the payphone in my building to his Skype and offer him a tip on one of his open cases.'

'And when you met him face to face?'

'He didn't get it, until he saw the bat and I told him it was for his own good. Then he got it.' His face when dark, intense at the memory. 'He turned his back on me and I swung the bat and bam. Down he went like a sack of bricks.'

'We didn't find a bat amongst your effects.'

'No, you wouldn't. I shipped it home to Israel, a personal memento.'

'Why?' Beckett asked, knowing she wouldn't like the answer.

'It was the same one Logan Avital used to club Rachel to death. It was my first crime, stealing it out of his locker.'

'More poetic justice?'

'In a manner of speaking. You've been awfully quiet, Shir.'

Beckett looked over at her, saw that Shir was indeed quiet and pale to the point of illness. 'Katsa Weaver, are you alright?'

'No, I am not. I am wondering in the fuck someone like me, who prides herself on being able to read people let you slip by.'

'Oh, Shiri.' Eli wrinkled his nose at her. 'We all know you were satisfied with the job Yassir did on my sister, riling up those animals to defile her body like that. But your son did the worst job. I know for a fact that Rachel was pregnant when they murdered her.'

In observation, all eyes went to Shane and Alexis. 'Shane is that true?' Ryan asked in a manner better suited to Dell than his cop-self.

'No. No,' he repeated, looking at Alexis with pleading in his eyes. 'Rachel wasn't pregnant, it wasn't possible.'

'How?'

'Because I suggested that we fit in a little bang before take off and she said no, she was on the rag.' Shane shuddered, wondered if those men knew that when they'd assaulted her, and just wrote the blood off from the violence of it. 'He's bluffing to make Kate back down. He's trying to play her, play to the idea that her daughter is my fiancee. Eli's smart but I sincerely think Beckett's tougher than him. Lex-'

'I believe you Shane, you'd never lie to me about something like that.'

She turned to him, gave him a reassuring kiss, made him smile. 'You're the best, Lex. I love you so much.'

'No boats.'

'Dammit.'

Esposito looked at them, glanced at Castle. 'You know what that means?'

'Not a clue,' he replied, glad for the little intimacies that could make this a little easier to bear. He looked back at the Interview room.

And all hell broke loose.

In the interview room, Beckett watched as Eli searched her face. 'That news doesn't disturb you, Detective? That Shane conceived a child who would be almost the same age as Alexis is now?'

'You're lying. A mother always knows,' she responded evenly. 'Right Shir?'

'Absolutely.'

'So you are going to punish me for that too?'

The man wasn't gleeful now, but nasty, and Beckett sighed, shook her head. 'You know something Eli, you don't scare me. I heard stories how you were some kind of lethal killing machine but from what I've seen, you're nothing more than a little boy trying to prove he's a man.'

'Oh you think so?'

'Yes I do.'

In a flash, Eli was on his feet and leaping over the interview room table; he back-handed Beckett, the sudden movement catching her by surprise and sending her spinning. His hand went to the small of his back and grabbing Shir, held the lethal blade of a keen-edged Bowie-knife to her throat.

'How about now?'

Beckett had her weapon in her hand, trained it so it would hit right between Eli's eyes. 'Now, you're a whole barrel of monkeys, Eli.'

'How do you think this one is going to end?' Ever the diplomat, even with his weapon in his hand, Montgomery's voice was low but full of fury. 'Think about it, you're in the middle of a police station, in a room with two cops and more in observation, not to mention the fact this is all on record.'

'Eli.' Shir spoke in Hebrew, hoping his mother tongue might get through to him. 'Think of your sister, is this what she would want you to do?'

'Shut up, you stupid bitch,' Eli hissed in English. 'My sister wasn't some weak helpless female, she wouldn't let those bastards get away with it.'

'And you think what you did, in her name, was right? You think you gave her justice?'

'They took her life, I took theirs. Fair's fair.'

In the observation room, it took Ryan, Esposito and Castle all pinning Shane against the wall as they saw the action unfold. 'She will be fine,' Esposito said through gritted teeth.

'No, you...'

Shane suddenly went limp, his face waxy and eyes dull. All three men turned, and as they did so, they watched as Alexis walked into the interview room, completely unarmed.


	24. A Battle

'Alexis, get out of here,' Beckett hissed through her teeth, scared to death that Eli would go even more mental than he already had. She wouldn't risk the life of the agent he held hostage nor her child.

Montgomery, who was looking at Alexis like she'd done lost it herself, added in the same hiss, 'Alexis, what are you doing? We got this, get out.'

'No, I won't do that.'

With admirable courage, Alexis took a step forward towards Eli and Shir. 'Eli, you don't want to hurt Shir.'

'No? It was her orders that ended my sister's life, her men that made the decision to rape and kill her.'

'All men are given reason and choice, and they made that choice,' Alexis responded smoothly. 'You have a choice here Eli. Do you want to leave mine and Shane's baby without a grandmother?'

The line hit its mark, as she watched Eli's hand readjust its grip on the knife. An uncertainty, she thought, and ran with it. 'We just found out last Friday night. It will be here next June, around the tenth the doctor thinks. Shane's an only child, you know that. Would you want to deny Shir that joy of watching her son become a father?'

'If Rachel hadn't been killed they would already have a child.'

'Rachel wasn't pregnant when she died Eli.'

'How do I know you're not lying?'

Alexis held out her arms. 'Look around. You're the one in control of this room. What good could possibly come from me lying and putting myself and my baby in jeopardy? I'm not saying you should give up, I'm just asking you to let this go.'

'What the fuck do you know about it, you child?' Eli growled.

'I know that when you have a vendetta to fulfill that's as all-consuming as this one, once it's completed, you have no idea what to do with yourself afterward. That's why you didn't shy away from helping the detectives this week. I think you wanted to be caught, to be in a situation like this where you think death is your only escape.'

'It is,' he insisted.

'You think that you will have nothing if you let this go, if you let it be done,' Alexis continued. 'You think that you are somehow responsible for your sister, even after all these years, because you were her brother and it was your job, your duty, to protect her.'

She thought of RJ, how when he was old enough he'd begun giving Shane righteous shit over any kind of intimacy he displayed towards Alexis. She thought of Beckett's mother and how Beckett had started on the same path as Eli had, the different direction her life had taken. 'You might think that the only way to keep her with you is to have this mission to fulfill, but that's not true.'

'Save me your psycho-babble bullshit, bitch.'

'Eli,' Shir murmured once more in Hebrew. 'Alexis knows of what she speaks. She's kind and compassionate and tougher than she looks.'

At any other time, the compliment would have made the young woman blush as red as her hair, but in this situation, she had to be as strong as Shir and everyone else though she was. In what most would consider a foolhardy move Alexis held out her right hand.

'Give me the knife, Eli. You have no use for it.'

'No.'

'Rachel will not have died in vain if you let this go. You've satisfied the debt against her life by making those men pay for it. But here's the question. Rachel died because she was a spy ordered to be silenced,' Alexis replied in a quietly determined voice. 'Shir acted on orders from her superior officers, as did Yassir. Who's orders did you follow to kill six men, Eli? And where does it end?'

'Pain never ends.'

'Grief never ends,' she corrected him. 'Pain is temporary, we hurt and we mourn, but we always carry it with us, those little scars on the heart. Just because it isn't all consuming doesn't mean we've forgotten about those we've lost. We honour them by not giving up our life to live because that won't bring them back.'

She saw the words hit home once more, and saw his hand shake. Hers, somehow, miraculously stayed steady as she left it outstretched. 'Give me the knife.'

'Lex,' Montgomery and Beckett muttered in unision as the woman took another step forward; by now, Castle, Ryan, Esposito and Shane had left the cloak of the observation room and were now filtering into the room, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

'Eli, you's delivered your justice to your sister, but you still broke the law, you can face it like a coward and take this way out, or you can face it like a man.'

Eli's shoulders slumped and he released his grip on Shir, who scrambled away wheezing but never leaving the room. He held out his hand to Alexis, held the blade handle-first toward her.

There was only a split second of decision to make, and Shane leaped forward as Eli feinted, countered, and now had Alexis in the same hold he'd had Shir in. Without a moment's hesitation, he lashed out and gave Eli a back-handed punch to the right ear that sent him and Alexis sprawling. Shane watched his fiancee belly-crawl across the floor; she was out of Eli's vision line and therefore out of his perception.

'This is what you really want isn't it,' Shane asked him as the men began to circle, Beckett and Montgomery backing off to give them a little room. This was not their stand to make, so weapons were holstered but kept at the ready. 'You never got past the fact I was sleeping with your sister and you want to punish me for it, don't you?'

'Partially.'

'Then give me your best shot.'

They watched Shane and Eli circle like boxers, and when Eli struck out, Shane blocked his attack with an armhold before he socked Eli in the jaw. The room was filled with grunts and curses not all in English, the sound of flesh smacking against flesh as they grappled. When Eli gave Shane a leg sweep that took the bigger man off his feet, all the cops had their weapons in hand but held off as Shane scissor-kicked and took Eli down with him. He crumpled only slightly, and began to wrap his hands around Shane's neck.

'You shouldn't have been with her,' Eli growled. 'She was way out of your league, Scheine. You didn't deserve her as a lover.'

Shane's vision began to go fuzzy-grey at the edges; instinctively, he reached out and shoved the heels of his hands under Eli's jaw in an effort to cut off his oxygen and get him to loosen his grip, if not black out. It worked, as Eli began to splutter and the stranglehold he had on Shane loosened enough that Shane left one hand under his jaw and rearing back, balled up his fist and rammed it into Eli's face. Blood fountained from Eli's broken nose, dripped bright red down his chin to Shane's body. Going with his momentum, Shane sprang up, shoving Eli off to the side before he grabbed the man's wrist and flipped him onto his stomach.

'Eli, it's over,' he said with his teeth gritted. 'It's over. And for the record, the only woman who has ever been my lover is the redhead you held at knife point, and I could beat your ass to death for that alone.'

'I barely touched her.'

'Again, I could kill you for breathing on her, but unlike you, I don't believe in vengeance.' Shane blindly held out a hand. 'Cuffs.'

Someone passed them to him, and because he didn't want to take any chances, Shane fed the little metal bars of the handcuffs through Eli's belt-loops then hauled him to his feet once he was secured. 'And another little bit for the record, she's much better in bed than Rachel ever dreamed of being.'

Eli, slightly less groggy now that the initial wave of pain from Shane's facial beating, snarled at him. 'Keep in mind it took eighteen years to find me, you think I won't be able to get out of prison?'

'Mom?'

'Eli, you honestly think you'd go to prison?' Shir stepped over to take her prisoner by the bicep and begin walking him towards the door. 'You'll be in the tombs. You'll never see natural light for the rest of your life, however long it might last. Detective Beckett, Captain Montgomery, would you like to escort this person to the holding cells?'

'I'll go, I have a feeling Detective Beckett will still be needed her for a few moments.'

'Very well.'

The moment Montgomery and Shir had Eli out the door, Shane was leaping over to Alexis and pulling her into his arms, his face buried in her hair.

'Oh, Jesus Lex, you are so fucking stupid,' he sighed, not caring that the tears he didn't even realize he'd been holding back came storming out of his eyes. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her hard, fierce and passionate like they were in a bodice-ripping erotica novel. 'Why did you do that?'

'I...I don't know, it just seemed like the right thing to do.'

'Well the next time you jump in the middle of a fire-fight, which I hope to God is never, give me a heads up so I don't have a god-damn heart attack,' he said with a slight tinge of laughter in his voice. He kissed her again, just as passionately and fiercely as before. 'I love you so much, Alexis.'

'I love you right back, Shane.'

He went to stroke his hand down her cheek, then saw the blood on his hand and pulled it back like he'd been stung by a wasp. 'Oh damn that is starting to sink in.'

'I'll kiss it better,' she murmured, and put her hand to his cheek, watched the fluorescence bounce off her diamond engagement ring. 'In fact, I'll kiss it all better. Mom!'

Alexis saw Beckett had picked up the knife Eli discarded and stare at it like it was a foreign object. She then lifted those stunned eyes to her husband and her daughter. 'God,' was all she said before the blade clattered to the floor and her face began to crumple up. Like Shane with Alexis, Castle was at her side in a flash.

'It's okay, baby,' he murmured to her as her arms came around him for a brief moment before she wheeled on Alexis, fire in her eyes.

'You...you...' Beckett was so pissed off she couldn't get the words out. 'Alexis, what were you thinking? No, don't answer that, I don't want to know. I really don't.'

'Can we chalk it up to post-partum hormones doing my thinking for me and that they served a better purpose today than me crying on my fiance's shoulder?' she suggested with a 'please don't be angry' face. It disappeared in appalled terror as Beckett let out another sob and this time flung her arms around Alexis.

'Dammit, girl, I must really be your mama if you make me this crazy,' she cried as the young woman awkwardly patted the detectives shoulders.

'It's okay, Mom, I'm okay.'

'Nice job calling his bluff with the pregnancy,' Castle told her. 'That was some quick thinking on your feet.'

'Well technically I was pregnant for three weeks, I just left that part out to Eli.'

'You'd have made a hell of a hostage negotiation cop, Lex.' Esposito laughed, blew out a breath. 'I think we've all earned a beer for this one.'

'Beer, hell, I'm drinking a keg for myself,' Ryan muttered, his stomach still bouncing up and down. Had Shane not jumped in when he did, Ryan knew he would have for sure. He always buried the needled on his rage-ometer when it came to pregnant women in jeopardy and it turned out Alexis was most definitely no exception.

'We're having a little party tonight. Everyone's coming to the loft. I've already got Italian and Southern comfort food ordered for the menu,' Castle said. 'And once the children are in their bunks in my office, we are all of us getting right stinking shit-faced.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah. Esposito said it right. We've certainly earned it.'

'Agreed,' Montgomery said from the doorway. They all stopped as he walked over to Alexis and held out his hand. 'You may have done a damn fool thing, but no one ever said the right way was easy. The rest of you, go out tonight, get drunk, let it all out. I'll see you here tomorrow at noon for a briefing with Ian Link.'

'Already on the docket, sir,' Ryan assured him.

'Glad to hear it. Now get out of here.'

'What about Yani?' Esposito asked.

'I've already sent Shir to collect him and explain.' Even saying how he'd given Shir that instruction left a foul taste in Montgomery's mouth. 'In the meantime, I'll repeat myself. Get out of here.'


	25. A Calm After the Storm

The group left in the in the interview room shaken but still coherent. Alexis' ears were ringing with equal parts condemnation of her risky move and congratulations that it paid off. Mostly, she was relieved that Shane hadn't killed Eli in their struggle; that would have been worse, somehow, than seeing Eli marched off in handcuffs.

When Yani had returned, he looked around like the character in a comedy who arrived two thirds into the scene to find mayhem in progress. He'd only had time to ask them what was going on and why he'd missed the briefing when Shir approached him and they locked themselves into Montgomery's office with Beckett, Ryan and Esposito. As they had no desire to relive any part of this day, Castle Shane and Alexis looked at each other as they stood by Beckett's desk.

'Well...' Castle said at length. 'I think it's safe to say this is one case that we wont mind seeing be put to rest without trial.'

'Agreed,' Shane and Alexis chorused, the former adding, 'Richard, I know you're planning a bash tonight at the loft, but I need Alexis for some quiet time first.'

'Oh, sure, no worries.'

'If they come out of there, you'll tell them we'll see them tonight?'

'Of course.'

Shane nodded, then took Alexis hand. 'Come on.'

They left the precinct, hailed a cab at the curb, and when Shane gave the driver instructions to take them to Central park, Alexis lifted an eyebrow.

'I know you like to feed the ducks, Shane, but it's November. They're in Miami drinking rum and orange juice, eating Cuban sandwiches and avoiding Dexter Morgan.'

'You'll understand in a minute.'

Shane looped her arm through his, and they walked towards the path that would lead them down to the benches near Loeb Boathouse. When he stopped at one and sat to stare at the water, Alexis joined him though she was uncertain of what to do.

'Whenever I've had a case that's gone really badly, this is where I come,' he murmured softly. 'This is the place that helps remind me why I do what I do.'

'I remember, Shane. You came here after the Mortimer Wilkes case ended in a guilt verdict.'

'I did.'

'So this is like your good-bye spot?' Alexis ventured, then explained, 'Everyone has a spot they go to so they can commune with the spirits chasing them, to tell them whatever happened is done.'

'Something like that. Sometimes it's to pray. I've always felt more comfortable doing that near the water instead of at temple. Guess that makes me a very bad Jew, huh?'

'No, just a human one,' Alexis reassured him. 'Besides, could be your vent for it all is something like gambling and loose women or a porn addiction, or- well, you know what I mean.'

Shane did understand her slight ramble, and gave her a little smile to go with it. 'I do know what you mean. It's so weird, I've been with other women, had other relationships, but none of them had your patience or understanding with me when I get on a tangent. It's how I knew you were different, that you're special.'

'Shane.' Alexis said his name, scooted closer to him on the bench as she watched him wrestle with those ghosts. 'You loved Rachel in the way an eighteen year old boy does when he's dazzled. Do you think I'd begrudge you that?'

'No I don't. But I feel like I never said goodbye to her either, never got the closure I needed.' He looked at his hands. 'I never sat shiva for her, never went to her grave once. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.'

'And now it's done. All of it.'

'I still feel out of sorts.'

Alexis pursed her lips, looked out over the water with him. There was something calming about being by the water, she thought, the tranquility and stillness of it made it hard to let in the voices of the world.

'Shane, I...you've been to Christian funerals before, right?'

'Of course.'

'Well, the one tradition of those that I always thought was the best part was the song. Whatever song they decided should sum up that person's existence, their death, whatever they chose to focus on. And there's one I can't help thinking of right now.'

'Can you sing it for me?'

'Sing it for you?' Alexis blinked. She was an okay singer but she wasn't some fantastic unpolished diamond. 'Um, okay, just let me think how the opening goes. It's been awhile since I've heard it.'

Shane put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close as her soft, sweetly angelic voice began to sing.

_Let it go, let it roll right off your shoulders  
>Don't you know the hardest part is over<br>Let it in, let your clarity define you in the end  
>We will only just remember how it feels<em>

All life's a maze, in these small hours  
>These little wonders<br>These twist and turns of fate  
>Time falls away<br>But these small hours, these small hours  
>Still remain<p>

Shane closed his eyes at the melodious tone of his fiancee's voice. 'I know this song,' he whispered hoarsely as his throat began to clog; long buried grief bubbled to the surface and the tears began to form in his eyes. 'Keep going, keep singing.'_  
><em>

_Let it slide, let your troubles fall behind you  
>Let it shine, till you feel it all around you<br>And I don't mind if it's me you need to turn to  
>We'll get by<br>It's the heart that really matters in the end_

She kept going, finished the song as she felt Shane shudder as the tears of mourning flowed from his eyes. When she finished, Alexis took her glove off her hand and turned his face to hers so she could look him in the eye.

'I love you, Scheine,' she told him.

'I love you too, Alexis.'

Shane dipped his head, gave her a kiss that was as much comfort as it was love, and when he broke it, he left his forehead pressed against hers. 'I need to ask something of you, Alexis.'

'Of course.'

'I need tomorrow for myself. There's something I need to do and you need to let me do it.'

'I don't like the sound of that. Far too ominous given what transpired at the precinct today.'

He laughed, his first real one all day and tugged a lock of her hair. 'I know you trust me not to go all kamikaze on Eli. I just need tomorrow, from let's say...two pm until about seven or so to do this.'

Though it made her feel a little ill, Alexis forced herself to nod. 'Okay.'

'Now, I don't know about you, but I am ready for some chicken and waffles with a side of manicotti.'

* * *

><p>They walked into the loft to the smell of baked cheese and gravy and the sound of Martha giving her son and daughter-in-law an absolute piece of her mind.<p>

'I cannot believe you just let her waltz in there like that, going nose to nose with a serial killer without so much as a Q-tip to defend herself!'

'Mom-'

'Richard, for once in your life, listen to me and shut you mouth.' Martha, ever one with a flair for the dramatic, thrust out a hand so her palm faced him. 'I don't care if it worked or not, you - both of you - put your child in unnecessary danger and I don't understand how you can be so calm and nonchalant like this happens every day!'

'Grams,' Alexis said in a voice not unlike the one she'd used in the interrogation room with Eli, and as her grandmother turned, Alexis got a taste of Hurricane Martha.

'Young lady, what do you have to say for yourself?'

'You look pretty?'

'Oh thank you darling but let's not just gloss over the fact you walked into he middle of a police standoff with a hostage involved!'

With what some would consider more courage than it took to ask Eli Hudek to lower his knife, Alexis stepped over and wrapped her arms around Martha's body. 'It's okay to be scared, Grams,' she murmured, patting her back just like she was the same age as RJ. 'I was just trying to help, and it worked.'

'Well.' Flustered as her emotions got the better of her, Martha awkwardly patted Alexis' head, then held her out at arm's length. 'You don't look like you took any hits or scrapes. Shane, how did she do?'

'My soul was shaking at the time so I'm the wrong person to ask,' he replied honestly and suddenly found himself in need of the only other person who could light him up like his fiancee could. 'Where's the little prince?'

'Waking up from nap time shortly, as people are going to be arriving very soon. He said he wants a bath in the big boy tub so he can look his best for a certain little lady.'

'I sincerely hope Mere and Javi have a boy when he gets her pregnant again,' Beckett laughed. 'If Espo has three daughters, I think he might lose his mind.'

'At least the girls only have straight boyfriends,' Castle teased as he helped his wife get the containers of catered food assembled for the masses. 'His little boy's already in a love triangle.'

'Oh, good God.' Martha rolled her eyes and headed for the fridge where sure enough she found an open bottle of chardonnay. 'You just all love turning everything into a soap opera.'

'No, the soap opera element would have been if Rachel Hudek had faked her death and turned out to be the same bitchy social worker who interviewed Shane at the hospital when Alexis was there last week.' Beckett handed Martha her favourite wine glass, braced her hands on the island's countertop. 'It's just children with puppy-crushes. And on that note, I'm going to give RJ his pre-party bath.'

'Kate, do you mind if I come with you?' Shane asked, sensing that Alexis wanted a moment or two with her father. It worked out well for him, as he wanted to talk to Beckett one-on-one.

'Oh, sure, I'm sure he'll love seeing you too.'

They entered the nursery where RJ was lying on his back, writhing and stretching as he woke up, Omeo tucked in beside him. 'There's my sleepy boy,' Beckett crooned with such affection it was easy to forget she'd held off Eli at gunpoint just hours before. 'How was your nap?'

'Omeo fussy, Mumum. He too 'cited fo' seein' Tah-rini.'

'Does Omeo want a bath to look good for Trini?' Shane asked, man-to-man and RJ sat up like he'd been shot from a canon.

'Shan' ! Washa doin' here, bo?'

God the kid was a charmer, Shane thought on a chuckle. 'I'm here because I need some help, the bro-to-bro kind.'

'I kin do that!'

'Not here, though.'

'Why no' ?'

Shane held a finger to his lips as Beckett helped RJ to his feet and led him across the hallway to the bathroom. When the water was running and the door was shut, she undressed the toddler while Shane spoke.

'I'm planning a surprise for Alexis tomorrow and I could use some help,' he told them both; RJ clapped his hands and grinned widely.

'Yea fo' suh-pises! Gotta haff puh-pah fuh-lowers.'

'I'll get her the lilacs, but do you think she would like a fancy dinner out at a restaurant or something more intimate, like room service in a nice hotel suite, Kate?'

'Room service,' she replied. 'What are you thinking of doing for her?'

Shane told her the idea and Beckett's eyes danced. 'She'll love that.'

'You think I'll be able to pull it off?'

Beckett nodded as she unfastened RJ's diaper, saw it was only wet and breathed a sigh of relief. 'Okay, big man,' she groaned, checking the tub's temperature and lifting him in. 'This isn't time for thinking our deep deep thoughts, though, it's a getting-ready bath.'

'Know that Mumum,' RJ said impatiently. 'Gotta look sha'p fo' Tah-rini. You gonna be sha'p fo' Lessis?'

'What do you think, Kate? Suit, or dress pants and a nice shirt and tie?'

'Shirt and tie,' Beckett decided. 'Less...stiff if you're going to be dining in-room.'

Shane had to laugh at her word choice, deliberate on her part he was certain. 'Does it weird you out at all that we're almost the same age and I'm technically going to be your son-in-law?'

'I learned one thing long ago about being part of the Castle family. Thinking too much on unimportant things like that just gives you an ice-cream headache. Now, tell me more about this plan.'


	26. A Party Starting

When RJ was set and certain he looked his best, he took Shane by the hand and they walked downstairs together while Beckett got her own shower. When he saw Alexis in the kitchen, also looking refreshed herself and wearing jeans and a cute pale green top that showed just a little hint of cleavage, Shane swallowed tightly. Now was not the time to be thinking naughty thoughts about how cute her ass looked in her jeans or how he prayed she'd lean over the counter just a little more to let the fabric of her top fall to give him a view of her breasts.

'Lessis!' RJ reached the bottom of the stairs and raced to his sister. 'How you doin' Lessis?'

'It's been a weird day, little bro,' she replied honestly. 'You look dapper tonight.'

'What that mean?'

'It's a synonym for sharp.'

'What a si-ma-mim?'

Alexis fought for patience. 'It's a fancy way of saying 'another word'.'

'Oh, o-kay. My Tah-rini here yet?'

'Not yet, there Valentino,' Castle chuckled as he finished arranging dishes of food on the long buffet table. 'Why don't you and your sister or you and Shane do some drawing?'

'No. No wanna. Wan' see my Tah-rini.'

'You can say that all you want but I can't speed up time and get her here for you.'

RJ's face threatened to crumple into a pout when he heard the knock on the door and his blue eyes lit with hope; he followed Alexis over to the door and though it wasn't Trini on the other side, he was just as excited when he saw Daniel, Andrea and Nessa. 'Hi-hi Daniel! Hi-hi An-dee-ah! How Nessa doin' ?'

'She's very good, she just had a little snack before we got here,' Andrea replied with a grin. New motherhood most-definitely looked good on her. 'And she's getting so big. Alexis, can you take her a moment?'

'Sure.' Alexis held out her hand for the baby-carrier and sneaked a peek under the blanket covering the baby so she wouldn't get snowed on. Nessa was indeed a looker - her eyes were a smoked slate blue and she already had pale strawberry blonde hair like her mother's and her shoulders were like a little line-backers; there was no mistaking her lineage in the slightest. 'What a little sweetheart.'

'She's such a good baby, she hardly ever cries, even when she got her two month booster shots,' Andrea said proudly. 'In fact, I think Daddy was crying more over that one than Nessa.'

'It's my duty as a daddy to protect my daughter from pain,' was all the man said and he gave Alexis a gentle smile. 'You doing better girl?'

'Yes,' Alexis replied genuinely. 'Yes I am.'

' 'Mon, Nessa, time fo' pishers!' RJ had apparently inherited his mother's patience, as he walked with Alexis over to the couch and waited politely while Alexis tok her from the carrier, put her on her shoulder. 'She a good baby.'

'She's very good, aren't you Nessa?'

Nessa blinked her eyes and squirmed a little, then clutched at Alexis' shoulder with one hand and went for her long red hair with the other, gave it a little squeeze her with long fingers. 'Yeah, that's kinda like your mommy's isn't it?'

'I can take her if you like, Lex,' Andrea offered; she was still a little bit in her selfish-phase of being a new mom that she didn't always like sharing her precious baby girl.

'No, I've got her, why don't you grab a drink or something?'

There was another knock on the door, and Alexis went with Nessa, still fascinated by her hair, to answer it. Her grin was wide when she saw four out of five Espositos on the other side; only the man of the clan was missing.

'Ola, Less!' Leo and Trini chorused, their brown eyes shining in delight as they waved, Leo shyly adding, 'Ola 'Sa.'

'Leo loves Nessa,' Tessi said importantly. 'How you to-night Ale...le...Lexis?'

'I'm good, Tessi. You're getting much better with those hard-c and k sounds.'

'Thank you. Mami?'

'Yes princess.'

'Give Ale..lexis the puh-resent.'

'She gets that bossiness from her daddy,' Meredeth laughed, leaning in to kiss Alexis' cheek. 'You feeling alright, sweetie?'

'I am. Doctor says I'm pretty much healed now since it was only three weeks but the hormones might take a little longer to level off. Where's Javi?'

'He and Ryan had to make a stop for Shane. Apparently he's putting together some kind of surprise for you?'

Alexis kept the smile on her face even as she ground her back teeth together. 'Apparently,' she echoed politely, then looked down at Nessa. 'What's my fiancee up to, huh? What's going on inside that Dutch coconut of his?'

As the baby's response was an adorably large sneeze that scared the bejesus out of poor Nessa, the baby's face clouded and she began to fuss a little bit, so Alexis passed her over to Andrea. It gave Meredeth the opportunity to put a supportive arm around the young woman and steer her towards the island where Castle had set up the bar. 'I think you could use a good stiff drink, and I've got a good recipe up my sleeve.'

'I don't think that's a good idea-'

'Don't go messin' with me, Alexis. I'm a mother of three children under the age of five and trying for number four.' Meredeth looked around at the selections and grinned. 'Kate, you knew I was coming, didn't you? I see all the fixings for double-barrel brass monkeys here.'

As Meredeth set about making her concoction, there was more knocking on the door and Alexis wondered if they shouldn't ust leave it open to let their friends in the way Meredeth and Javi did at Christmas. She answered the door and this time her face split into an even wider grin.

'Hey guys!'

'Alexis!' Dell threw his arms around Alexis' waist while Mallory did the same to the knees. 'Mama said you were in the hospital last week, and that you were going to have a baby but it got sick and didn't make it. Are you better now?'

'You doin' better?' Mallory asked, little eyes widening in concern.

'Much better.'

'That's so good to hear. Come on, we gonna go find my Tessi and we gonna have a bev-age and then I'm gonna tell you a joke to make you feel better.'

Shane watched from across the room as Alexis was inundated by the children of their friends and felt a surge of pride for her. She may have stared down a serial killer that afternoon, but in his mind watching her be around all those youngster without flinching or breaking down when she was still healing from her own lost child.

He hadn't realized until they'd been sitting together in Central Park that afternoon, and really listening to the words of the song she'd sung to him that it was as much for herself as for him. She'd needed to sit shiva for her own loss too, and Alexis being who she was had put him first before herself, because she'd determined in her mind that situation was far more dire than her own.

But she was still healing, and he hoped that his plan for her the next day would show her just how much he loved her, that she was the one who needed to be treasured just as much as she'd treasured him and made sure he'd gotten through the week as intact as possible.

When he saw Ryan and Esposito walk through the door, he gave them a subtle nod. They gave Alexis a supportive hug before coming over and getting a drink. 'Hey bro, how was the rest of your day?'

'Much calmer than the first half. You take care of those little errands?'

'Yes, you are all set to go,' Ryan replied. 'She'll be picked up at six-thirty.'

'You guys are the best. What about Lili?'

'She'll see you tomorrow at two sharp. Be punctual, she's only got forty minutes for you. Fridays are always chaos for her.' Esposito twisted the top off a bottle of beer. 'I know the captain told us all to get tanked tonight, but too much of this goes down, other things won't.'

'And we're back to our same pervy-time, same pervy channel,' Ryan sighed as his partner wandered off to find his wife. 'I swear to God, Meredeth turned him part rabbit. He was never this bad about his girlfriends before her.'

'Funny,' Shane commented. 'I was never comfortable talking about my private life with my girlfriends to my guy friends till Alexis and I hooked up and we all got a little closer.'

'Still bothers me from time to time the way we reamed you over cards that night about messing around with her.'

'I knew you guys were going to do that to me, but c'mon, you gotta admit it was a rather classic moment how you and Espo found out about us.'

Ryan had to laugh at the one. 'You're telling me. I still can't believe that happened some days, it feels too surreal. Had you guys been...you know, when you were in the shower-'

'Nope. We were just having a shower together in the vain effort of her hoping to be at the loft before me.'

'Let me ask you something, had you not been busted by us, when would you have told us your mystery girlfriend was Alexis?'

'That night,' Shane replied honestly. 'We'd talked about telling people now that her parents knew, and truthfully, the way things unfolded over cards was close to the way I'd plan to tell you about it anyways, a little payback for the teasing you gave me.'

'It's strange, when we first found out about you guys, it felt like such an odd couple, and now it's impossible to think of you two with anyone else.' Ryan sipped his own beer and grinned at him. 'You know that now you've set a wedding date that means we get to start planning your bachelor party, right?'

'It's over a year away.'

'Yeah, that might be enough time. Oh, no. This could be trouble.'

'What?'

Ryan pointed, watched as Meredeth and Alexis came over to the bartending station, began setting out little paper Dixie cups while Meredeth began pouring shots of liquor in a tall glass. 'If this lady is mixing the drinks, you better brace yourself for a very hungover fiancee tomorrow.'

* * *

><p>The next day, Alexis woke late with a fuzzy head; she wasn't surprised that Shane was already up. She could literally smell the coffee coming from the cup on her night-stand and reached for it, sighing deeply as the delicious bitter bite hit her tongue with just a hint of cream and sugar.<p>

'Oh that's the stuff,' she sighed in pleasure, then sat up, letting the sheets fall away from her body. She was back in her groove of little to no clothing while she slept despite the fact it was six weeks until Christmas and four to the first night of Chanukah. There was something about the feel of the sheets on her bare skin that helped her sleep better.

Of course, the hunky doctor she was hooked up with helped her sleep much better too, for more than one reason. And that more than one reason was all she could think about right now. She wanted her fiance in bed with her so badly she could almost taste it. She wanted to be naked with him, to kiss him and touch him intimately the way she'd planned to for the last week. There was a tingle at the base of her spine as she thought of how they were more than likely going to spend all of Saturday making up for that lost time.

She took another sip of coffee, glanced up when Shane walked in full dressed and grinning. 'Morning, sleepy-head. Or should I say afternoon?'

'What time is it?'

'Quarter past noon.'

Alexis glared at him. 'Why did you let me sleep so long?'

'When I tried to wake you up at nine-thirty you told me if I wanted to get laid tonight I'd learn to leave you alone while you slept.'

'I said that?'

'Verbatim.' Shane rounded the foot of the bed, gave her a sticky, lingering kiss. 'But then, you were way more in the bottle than I was since you and Meredeth got into the brass monkeys. You might want to get a shower soon, though, because you have some appointments to keep today.'

'Appointments?' As far as Alexis knew, her Friday was wide open and clear. 'What appointments?'

'You're going to Mid-Town Retreat for a few hours, and there is someone waiting there to enjoy a very girlish day of indulgence with you.'

The glare turned into a squint. 'What are you up to, Shane?'

'If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?'


	27. An Afternoon of Indulgence

Alexis got a quick shower and dried her hair, and headed downstairs with Shane. When they reached the sidewalk outside their building, her mouth dropped open in surprise. 'What is this?'

'Part one of your surprise.'

'How many parts are there?'

'Alexis, do yourself a favour and stop asking questions right now,' Shane laughed. 'You'll ruin the fun.'

She could only nod, mouth still open, as she stared at the sleek baby limousine, glossy black in the November afternoon. A liveried driver popped out of the side and rounded the trunk to open her door for her. 'Miz Castle.'

'Thank you. Just one moment.' Alexis turned to him, gave him a kiss on the mouth. 'Okay, I give. I won't question anything else for today.'

'You'll have a great time. Love you, see you later.'

'Love you too.'

Alexis slipped in and got her next surprise of the day - sitting on the bench opposite her and waiting with a glass of something fizzy in her hand was Andrea Brick.

'Hey girl,' she said, smile wide and grey eyes sparkling with anticipation. 'You ready for today?'

'I honestly have no idea what is on tap for today,' Alexis answered with a laugh, taking the glass Andrea offered her. 'I was expecting Lanie or Meredeth.'

'Nope, Lanie's at the doctor's and Meredeth's got a meeting with Robina all day. The baby is with her daddy and nana, and I'm all yours, toots.'

The limo glided away from the curb into traffic like a smooth and silent airship; as they headed north to Mid-Town, Alexis sipped her drink and realized it was California pinot grigio, one of her favourite wines. 'Are you okay to drink that, Andrea?'

'Yep. I'll be pumping out at least once while we're out and I can just throw away the milk so Nessa won't be hurt by the alcohol. Daniel and I are going out for a mama and daddy date night, tonight. We're going to San Pedro Bistro, and then we're going to see _Spring Awakening_. I've seen it once and loved it, and Daniel wants to see it too. He has no idea it's all about sex and death and everything in between, so it'll be interesting to see his reaction.'

'Do you have any idea what my fiance is up to?'

Andrea grinned like the Cheshire cat, nodded. 'Oh yes I do, and nope, I'm not telling you. I'll give you hints but a good sister never tells her sister what the boyfriend's surprise is.'

'Damn.'

'Honey,' the nurse giggle, patting her knee, 'just sit back and enjoy it. Which in about fifteen, twenty minutes, won't be too hard, trust me.'

They arrived at the spa where Alexis could smell cucumber soap mixed with the somehow female scent of nail care solutions. The foyer was done in soothing pastel greens and creams and silver, and behind a high marble front desk a woman who could have been Aishwaraya Rai's little sister gave them a warm and welcoming smile.

'Good afternoon, welcome to Mid-Town Retreat. How may I assist you?' she asked in a melodious Peggy Lee voice.

'Yes, we have a half-day treatment appointment schedule for one pm,' Andrea replied.

'Andrea Brick and Alexis Weaver.'

It gave Alexis a little jolt, a happy rush, to hear her name like that; it was the first time she'd ever heard it. The receptionist looked over the appointment book and nodded.

'Of course, if you go through these doors to my left, you'll find our changing rooms and you'll be ushered to your suite.'

'Suite?' Now Alexis' eyes went wide in amazement and for a moment she was a little girl seeing Santa for the first time. 'What means 'suite', Andrea?'

But the woman only smiled as they went through the smoked glass doors and into the room marked 'Ladies Dressing Room'. They were each given their own private booth with a bag for all their street clothing, including a protective bag for their snow-laden winter shoes. Naked, Alexis slipped on the modesty wrap, then put on her fluffy bathrobe that smell gorgeously of cucumber soap; it was the same fragrance she'd smelled when they first walked in. With her feet in the little white flippy-flops and her belongs in hand, she stepped out to see Andrea dressed the same way and carrying the same bag.

'Where to now, Moses?' she giggled, but there was no need to ask, for waiting in the parlour area was a woman in deep green scrubs and comfy-looking Crocs.

'Welcome Missus Weaver and Missus Brick. I'm Kathleen, I'll be overseeing your treatments today. Both of you are new guests, correct?'

'Yes, this was a surprise from Doctor Weaver for Alexis,' Andrea replied.

'How lovely. Follow me please.'

'Missus Weaver?' Alexis hissed at Andrea in glee. 'I like the sound of that very, _very_ much.'

'He knew you would.'

Kathleen opened a door and both Andrea and Alexis blinked as they saw inside was a small lift with colour coded buttons indicating various parts of the spa's facility. Kathleen shut the door, pushed the purple button and they were going upwards to what Alexis guessed was about the fifth floor. The door opened and they were in a room similar to a modest room in a five-star hotel: there was a small kitchenette, a powder room, a sitting area with table and chairs along with a couch and a small television set. In the middle of the room, two women were finishing setting up what appeared to be foot-baths near two padded chairs while two others were setting up manicure stations.

'This is our Broadway suite,' Kathleen informed them. 'It's often used by women coming in to get themselves pampered for a pre-wedding party, or by some celebrities if they are attending a gala in town. Just last week, we had Selma Sinclair and Zoe Saldana as guests prior to the premiere of _Deception Point_. I'll take your things for you.'

The attendant took the bags each of them women carried and put them in a hidden closet, then turned back to them. 'Refreshments will be arriving shortly. Right now, I believe Anke and Jana are ready for you in the massage rooms.'

'Massage rooms?' Alexis asked, then out of the corner of her eye, she saw two other women step out of what she saw now were pocket sliding doors. 'Oh, boy.'

'I will be looking after Alexis,' the blonde woman with smooth rosy skin said in a Marlene Deitrich accent, 'and Jana will take Andrea.'

Alexis stepped towards her, into the room where the lighting was dim; the air was lightly fragrant with cucumber once more and she had to wonder if the stuff wasn't pumped through the ventilation system so you were calmed no matter where you went in the spa. Once Anke had slid the door shut, Alexis slipped off her robe, her modest wrap and positioned herself on the table face down.

'We are doing a nice Swedish massage today,' Anke told her as she light eucalyptus candles, adding to the blissful atmosphere of the room. 'Thorough and deep so as to relax the muscles and mind together.'

'Sounds promising.'

'Your husband, he arranged this for you?' Anke asked, softening her hands with some cocoa butter.

'Fiance. But clever man he is, he decided to use his surname that I'll take when we get married for this reservation.'

'What does he do?'

'He's a medical examiner,' Alexis replied. She would have said more but Anke had begun to do her thing, making Alexis moan deeply as if she was in bed with Shane already. 'Oh, God. Has anyone ever had an orgasm on these tables?'

Anke laughed richly. 'I honestly don't know, but anything's possible.'

'Uh-huh.'

Alexis fought to keep her eyes open, but barely five minutes into her massage, she could feel the lids sinking shut as she continued to sigh in pure pleasure.

The next thing she was aware of was the sound of windchimes ringing and she lifted her head from the little face-rest. 'Hmm?' she asked blearily and saw Anke wiping her hands on a towel.

'Welcome back. How was your rest?'

'How long was I out?'

'About fifty minutes. Your refreshments have arrived and you will be able to enjoy them shortly. I have a selection of finishing oils here in a variety of fragrances that some women like to have on their skin for their men. Is there a fragrance you'd like in particular?'

'Lavender or lilac if you have it.'

Anke scanned her selection and nodded. 'I have both.'

She drizzled warmed the summery oil onto Alexis back and worked her broad, capable hands into the skin made soft and supple by the hour-long massage. 'Is this a special occasion night for you and your fiancee?'

'No. No occasion, unless he has more surprises planned.'

'If he surprises you out of the blue with an afternoon like the one I saw arranged in your package, I wouldn't be surprised if you're going to a black-tie ball tonight. There we are, you can redress and have a snack.'

Alexis sat up, then stood up on legs not quite steady - Anke's work had made the muscles lax and loose there too - and slid the modesty wrap back on, followed by the fluffy robe. The fabric felt like silk against her soft skin as she walked into the sitting area to find Andrea looking as blissed out as a stoner at a Jack Johnson concert while she waited for the man in navy blue scrubs to finish pouring bubbly water into goblets. On the table was a fresh fruit platter with some kind of dip, along with a bowl of garden salad, a basket of rolls and a plate of light meats and cheeses for making sandwiches.

'I feel like a princess. A post-partum princess,' Andrea declared, nudging Alexis' glass towards her. 'I'm so glad I asked Shane to come along with you.'

'Why did you?' Alexis asked bluntly, hoping she didn't come across as rude.

'Because of all the women in our family, I'm the one who's had a baby most recently and can sympathize the most with your situation. I've never had a miscarriage Alexis, but I know what it's like to feel guilty over things that aren't your fault and be worried that your body isn't good enough for the man who's offered you his heart and soul unconditionally.'

'Any advice?'

'Your feelings of guilt are natural, but holding onto them won't help. Do you mind if I share a little story about my second time with Daniel?'

'Of course not, I was at your bachelorette party, remember?'

'Right, right. My brain's still in park from that massage. Anyways, you know the first time was the morning after RJ was born, in broad daylight without any kind of dimmed lighting whatsoever. The second time though, it was later that night, after Mallory had been born and I didn't let him touch my body until the lights were out.'

'Why?'

'Because I was afraid. I'm not a slim girl and I'd had another boyfriend call me Keiko the Love Whale or Sexy Wide Back before.'

'That's despicable.'

Andrea shrugged. 'Anyways, it made me self-conscious about my body, even more than I already was, and Daniel flipped the lights back on as I went to kiss and he said to me, I want to see you. I asked him why, and he said very simply, because you are my sexy lady and I want to see you. So I let it go and just let myself be with him, not caring about how he kept kissing and complimenting all the spots on my body I thought were unflattering.'

'Don't think this is a come-on, but you're a very sexy lady, Andrea.'

'Thanks. You are too.'

'Not like you, though,' Alexis said. 'I saw those pictures from Sloan's art show in the summer and I was stunned. I think I'm kinda glad I didn't do it with you guys, I'd have felt so skinny and awkward.'

'There's all kinds of sexy, Lexy. What?' Andrea asked when Alexis let out a little chuckle with a blush.

'That's something my man said to me during our first time together.'

'Excuse me ladies.'

They looked up, saw Kathleen there with two new attendants. 'This is Gracie and Emma, they are going to be looking after your body care this afternoon. You are both scheduled for full sugaring as well as facials, is there any preference as to what you'd like to come first or would you like them done simultaeneously?'

'What is sugaring?' Andrea asked.

'It's similar to waxing, only with sugaring rather than adhering to your skin, it's to the hairs themselves so as a result it's much nicer to use on sensitive skin.'

'That sounds promising,' Alexis commented. 'Perhaps, we could do the facials while getting our legs done, and work our way up?'

'Of course. Right this way please.'


	28. A Sisterly Bond

Midway through their sugaring session - Alexis had just finished getting her bikini zone done and her facial was nearly completed - when Kathleen came into her privacy room with a garment bag along with two other bags, one from the Nine West, the other from the Martinique Boudoir.

'This was just delivered for you, Alexis,' she told her while the young woman grunted in discomfort as the final strip was ripped away by Emma. 'Would you like me to leave it here in your room or would you like it left in the sitting area?'

'Sitting area, please. Who is it from?'

'I don't know, there's a card in an envelope in the bag with the shoes.' Kathleen fished it out, passed it to Alexis.

She shredded the end of the envelope, flipped open the hand-written note.

_How are you liking your surprise so far? Just the thought of you naked and getting rubbed down gets me all hot and bothered. See you in a little while, love Shane._

'What a guy,' she murmured, then passed the note to Emma. 'My fiancee is just really pulling out the stops today.'

'Is it your anniversary?' Emma asked in her chipper Australian accent while she smoothed cooling aloe gel onto the skin that had just received the hot-sugar treatment.

'No, it isn't.'

'He is a keeper, that's for sure. Okay, time to get the goop off.'

After wiping her hands clean Emma reached up to Alexis' face, mindful of the eyebrows and peeled away the deep-cleanse gel mask that had solidified and tightened up on the skin. 'There we are, just lovely. So tell me more about this fiance, is he cute?'

'Hot,' Alexis corrected as the same warm paste used on her legs was smeared at the edges of her eyebrows. 'The word for Shane is hot. In capital letters.'

'What does he look like?'

She described him for the beautician, occasionally interrupting her self with a little 'ow!' as Emma trimmed and styled her eyebrows. By the time she was done, Emma was sighing romantically and Alexis was sitting up in her padded chair.

'Oh, you are so lucky!'

'He's the lucky one, he's going to see all of this-' she gestured to herself '-looking pretty sexy tonight, it seems. Now what?'

'Now it's snack time once more so the mani-pedi people can get set up.'

'Yea!'

Alexis slipped on her flippy-flops, foregoing the robe this time in case she had any little bits of hot sugar still on her legs; the last thing she wanted to look like was that she'd been tarred and feather at the spa. Going over to the couch, she saw that her garment bag had been laid gently over the back so whatever was inside wouldn't wrinkle. Alexis decided to wait until Andrea was done so they could ooh and aah over the contents together; wasn't that was sisters did?

'Alexis, you need to tell you man you and a gal pal need this at least once a week.'

She glanced over her shoulder to see Andrea strutting out of her privacy room, also in just her modesty wrap, her long auburn hair bundled on top of her head in a messy up-do. 'But then I think we wouldn't appreciate how special it is. Look.' Alexis pointed to the garment bag. 'I got presents.'

'And I only got a bikini wax.' But Andrea knew this was part of Shane's surprise for his fiancee and went with it. 'Open up, open up!'

'Don't you want to guess who they're from?'

'From Shane, silly, that much is obvious. Open! Up!'

Alexis laughed, unzipped the garment bag - and gasped in delight. 'Oh, Andrea look at this!'

It was a dress with a dip-dye colour palate - Alexis had seen them before in her copies of Italian _Vogue_; the look was achieved by hand-dipping the dress into a vat of colour and slowly, painstakingly drawing out so that it looked like a sky at sunset, going light into dark. The one Shane had chosen for her was done in purple, beginning at the shoulders in a shade so pale it could have been mistaken for pearl grey. It's neckline was a halter style, with a plunging v-neck so that when Alexis put it on, she was certain it would give her delightfully sexy cleavage. The waist was a wide bad that went from just below the slit neckline and the skirt fell to the knees in a swish, chiffon-silk billow of aubergine.

'Good god, Alexis, that is stunning,' Andrea sighed. 'Where did he find that, I wonder?'

'It's from Van Valkan Tailors, I recognized the bag,' Alexis replied. 'Margha's dyer, Jules, does excellent work.'

'I'll say.'

'Which means the other bags...'

Alexis trailed off and went right for the Nine West bag where she found four-inch pumps that matched the pale hue at the top of the dress, and they sighed together over them like they were looking at little Nessa. Their sighs turned to salacious whistles when Alexis dipped into the Martinique Boudoir bag and found a few items to make her blush and Andrea nudge her friend playfully.

'Sweetheart, it's no secret you and Shane have sex,' she reminded the younger woman.

'I know, it's just...it's one thing to be all nudge-nudge wink-wink about it, it's another to pull this out of the bag and basically have it announced in a fanfare I'm getting laid tonight.'

'Okay, I can appreciate that.' Andrea thought of when Honey-Milk had been in labour and had busted her for getting handsy with Daniel in the on-call room. She was pretty sure that blush had lasted until Christmas morning. 'But still, I have to say, he's got excellent taste.'

'You think so?'

'Sure, he chose you, didn't he? Oh, sweetie.' Andrea saw the little shimmer of tears hover in Alexis' eyes and gave her a hug. 'Daniel still cuts the crusts off his sandwiches.'

'What?'

'It's true. Anytime we have sandwiches on regular, store-bought bread, not like French bread or Italian or something, he will always cut off the crusts. Ah, see, it works on you too.' She laughed as Alexis did and the tears vanished. 'You will be hearing a lot of details like that on your wedding day.'

'Ladies, we're almost ready to start with the pedicures and manicures, if you want to help yourself to more of the refreshments,' Kathleen offered, checking to make sure her people were ready and in place. She knew from some of her minor press clipping just who Alexis' father was and she'd be damned if she was going to let her walk away with anything less than a stellar opinion of Mid-Town Retreat.

'Oh, a good idea. I have no idea what or when I'm having dinner so I am having a snack,' Alexis declared, going to the sitting room to make herself a sandwich. After loading a kaiser roll with turkey, Havarti and honey mustard she sat down and thought about all the possibilities that lay before her tonight; a show on Broadway? No, this was a little over the top for that. She'd have just gone to the salon and gotten her hair done, maybe her nails too. A fancy dress event he was surprising her with? Maybe, but he'd have told her about it ahead of time, surely.

Maybe, she thought with a little jolt, Meredeth had used her connections and gotten them a spot on the red carpet for a gala premier of some kind. What movies were having their big debut this week in New York? No, Alexis decided again, Shane was a horrible liar, almost as bad as when he was forced to be in an airplane. He would have no more been able to keep that secret than a twelve-year-old boy could predict his next wet dream.

Damn, maybe he was better at secret keeping than she thought, if Shane was able to make her scratch her head so deeply over what he had planned for them tonight.

'Alexis, girl you in there?'

'Sorry, Andrea,' Alexis replied, bringing herself back to Earth. 'Just trying to figure out what he's got up his sleeve. You don't know, do you?'

'Mm-mm.' Andrea shook her head, and busied herself making a sandwich while Alexis turned away to look out the window. When the girl's back was turned, she made a delighted squinched-up smiley face. Of _course_ Shane had told her his plan, but Andrea was far too crafty to let it slip to her home-girl she knew exactly what the good doctor had in store for his bride-to-be that night. 'Maybe it's some kind of fancy dead-doctors' shin-dig.'

'Maybe,' Alexis echoed, then filled her mouth with her sandwich. In being dazzled by all the pampering, it was easy to forget that she'd awoken with a mild hangover and was in need of something to eat. She took a bite and moaned like she had with Anke during her Swedish massage; even the food was disgustingly delicious here.

'So, I know you and I haven't had a lot of good quality girl time, just us two. Can I go the naughty route or would you like to keep it clean?'

'Naughty.'

'Seriously?'

'Yeah. After seeing that lingerie he bought for me, I have a good idea of what is on tap for us tonight. No pun intended,' she added on a giggle when she realized her double-entendre. 'Pretend your my maid of honour, or something.'

'Okay.' Andrea took a sip of her bubbly water, then grinned. 'I can't recall off the top of my head if I ever heard the story of how you and Shane met. I heard the one about how Ryan and Esposito found out a dozen times, but when did it start?'

'The day after Mom and Dad came home from the hospital when RJ was born, I got a call from him. Ryan had given me his contact info and mine to him, because Shane went to medical school at Princeton which is where I go. We met for tea and we hit it off, but he got called into work, so he asked me to have dinner with him the next night to talk about medical school.' Alexis smiled softly as she remembered the date well. 'Once more, we didn't get to talking about medical school and he said to me that he wanted to see me again and not because he wanted to talk about Princeton.'

'Oh.' Andrea pressed a hand over her heart. 'That's so bold and romantic. Did he kiss you after he told you that?'

'On the cheek. We didn't kiss until our third official date.'

'What about the first night together?'

Alexis laughed. 'My mom said it right, we share way too much in this family.'

'In case you forgot, there are twelve babies between all the married couples and I've helped deliver eight of them. You wanna talk overshare, I've seen all those ladies' kochies on display in the stirrups with little heads wriggling out of them, and we're all still able to look each other in the eye.'

Since Andrea had a point, Alexis conceded and sipped her bubbly water to wash down the sandwich. 'It was on a Sunday afternoon. We'd made plans to have dinner together and-'

'No, I don't need the lead up, I want the good stuff. Like, details of the very dirty kind.'

'Feeling a little deprived are we?'

'I just got clearance from the doctor to have sex with Daniel on Hallowe'en by my doctor and we only got to do it twice before I hopped on the Tampax train last week. I am ready to jump _you_, if you were single and into girls.'

'Haha, okay.'

'So, details, was all hot and sweaty. Actually, no first question. Was Shane your first?'

'No, the second.'

'Huh, okay. Who was the first?'

Alexis scratched her head. 'My boyfriend at Cambridge, JP, this French ass-hat who decided that since I wasn't a superstar at sex after doing it the first time, he started cheating on me and broke up with me in an airport.'

'Oh that is a bastard. But we won't waste valuable girl-talk time on bad lovers. You've got a good one now and he deserves all our gabbing energy. How was it with Shane?'

'Oh, Andrea, it was heaven. I've never felt that way about a man before.' Alexis sighed, crossed her legs. 'Just because he wasn't the first doesn't mean he didn't give me any firsts?'

'Like what?'

'Sorry to interrupt ladies,' Kathleen addressed them, 'but we're ready to go here and we want to make sure we keep you both on time.'

'Oh, of course, we can talk about sex and get our nails done at the same time,' Andrea said with a wink. 'One of the perks of being a woman.'

They'd barely settled into the next set of padded chairs and dipped their feet into the footbaths filled with warm water when Andrea looked at Alexis. 'Okay, pause button has been taken off. What kinds of firsts?'


	29. A Night of Romance I

By the time their afternoon of being pummeled and polished was done Andrea helped Alexis put on her dress over the fancy lingerie Shane had bought. When she was ready to go, Andrea let out a hearty wolf whistle.

'He doesn't have a prayer, sweetie,' she declared. 'You are going to have to share all the details from tonight with me.'

'Andrea, I'm sure you'll have your own details to share from tonight. You're looking good too.' Alexis sent her a grin. 'If I was single and into girls, I'd do you too.'

'Aw, thanks sugar.'

Andrea helped her friend put her winter coat on over her dress, and they were escorted back downstairs by Kathleen. Once outside on the street, however, Andrea hailed a cab rather than climbing into the baby limo with Alexis.

'You're not coming with me?'

'I have my own plans with Daniel tonight. It's my mother's birthday so Daniel and I are taking her out for dinner to Minerva's. Go on, you'll be fine.'

A yellow taxi pulled to a stop behind the limo and Andrea gave Alexis one last hug. 'Details, sweetie! Lots of them!' she called, popping into the backseat.

Alone as she slipped into the limousine Alexis realized that Andrea, that sly little minx, had known the whole day just what Shane was planning for them that night. 'Clever girl,' she murmured, leaning back against the plush fabric of the bench, then on an inspiration, she picked up the phone to ask the driver where they were going.

'Nice try, Miss Alexis,' he replied in a musical Grenadian accent. 'But I been told by Shane no spoilers.'

Alexis hung up the phone, and half-laughing, she looked out the window, saw the city going past in colour and motion until the limo stopped and Alexis realized where she was. Even she, the born New Yorker, was impressed by the stately address they'd arrived at. Turning off the engine, the driver came around to open her door and escort her through the glass revolving doors to the marble-floor foyer where she saw Lili George-Esposito at the top of the stairs in one of her lady-suits.

'Welcome to the Waldorf Astoria,' she greeted her warmly. 'Thank you Cedric.'

'Any time, Miss Lili.'

'This way please.' Lili gestured to a short hallway beyond the foyer. She used her staff master-key card to gain entrance to the elevator and the moment the door closed, she pushed the button for the fourteenth floor. When they'd begun their ascent, Lili turned to Alexis and gave her a trademark bone-squishing hug. 'Oh, girl you look so fabulous!'

'Thanks, but what am I doing here?'

'Ask Shane, honey, he can explain better than I.'

'Okay.'

The elevator slowed and let them off, where Lili showed her into suite eighteen-eleven; after a quick knock on the door, Lili smiled and held it open for Alexis.

'Have a good time tonight honey. Remember we all want details come Monday.'

Lili backed out of the room quietly and Alexis looked around. It was beautiful no question but she would register that later. All she could see at the moment were flowers - buckets and buckets of flowers making the room smell heady and delicious. She walked in the bedroom and swore her heart stopped.

There he was, leaning over to light a couple of votives in mirrored holders so their light would refract and multiply. Shane was barefoot in pressed khaki pants with a denim-blue shirt and a tie r. His hair was recently cut and swept off of his face but a few locks had escaped and he was pushing those strands out of his eyes when he straightened, looked around the room.

Then he saw Alexis and his face lit up sweetly. He blew out the match, walked towards her.

'What's all this?' she stammered, overwhelmed by him.

'This is why I needed today for myself, to get all this organized. I wanted...I needed to give you a day totally for yourself, where nothing but you feeling good about yourself was most important.'

'You did all this for me?'

Shane nodded slowly, crossed over to her. 'I told you we'd have a nice date night.'

'How...how?' Alexis didn't want to insult him, but she knew the kind of money he made and to pull off what he did would have taken a good portion of his monthly pay to do so.

But he understood her dilemma and winked at her. 'I called in some markers, had the boys pull a few strings. But Lili volunteered the suite to us for the night.'

'Remind me to buy her roses.'

'So I was thinking that we might have some dinner first, from room service, and then we can put this bed to use.' Shane pressed his palm to the king-sized bed, gave it a testing squish. 'I can't wait to see how that lingerie looks on you. Or more importantly, how it looks coming off of you.'

'How did you pull it together in such a short space?'

'I was planning on surprising you with the spa day anyways, and last night I cornered her at the party, said she'd swing it so we have our night for free.'

'She didn't have to do that.'

'Lili has a suite at her disposal once a month she said we can have for free for the night.' Shane winked at her. 'Don't worry, I didn't break the bank on just one day of indulgence. Even if you deserve it.'

'We deserve it,' Alexis started, but he crossed to her, put his finger to her lips.

'No, _you_ deserve it, Lex. You had a miscarriage and somehow while still dealing with your own grief, you were there for me. This is all for you, my sweet.'

He kissed her lips lightly, pleased when he saw her eyes cloud with desire.

'Shane?' she whispered.

'Yeah?'

'Room service can wait.'

Alexis pulled him in for a soul-searing kiss, her lips crushing against his with hunger and passion. She heard him squeak a little bit in his throat as he got his balance, then pull her tight against his body.

She was heaven, was all Shane could think, she looked and smelled like an angel and tasted even better. His tongue traced the outline of her lips, nudged them apart to find her tongue and tangle with it, making her shudder already beneath his touch. His mouth moved over her jaw to nibble at her earlobe.

'I love you so much, Alexis,' he murmured to her.

'I love you too, Shane.'

She laid her lips against his neck, felt his pulse already rabbiting there, making her blood pump a bit harder. Here was love and comfort and arousal, in one beautiful man that she'd been fated to have in her life. She made sure, as best as she could, she showed him what he meant to her and tonight there was only one way to do that, the most pure and simple way to experience pleasure.

With hands going greedy, she untucked his shirt, loosened the tie around his neck. Alexis wound the strip of silk in her hands and used it like a lasso to pull him tight against her and going with her instinct, hooked her leg over his hip to effectively open herself to him. Even through the silky fabric of her dress she could feel him hardening against her.

'Guess I'm not the only one excited for it,' she purred, then gave a little gasp when Shane crouched, wrapped his arms around her legs so he was boosting her up and laying her in the bed. Her eyes fized on his, going wide as he slipped off her shoes one at a time, then slicked his hands up her legs before retreating.

'You gave me a nice little strip-tease last year about this time for my birthday,' he told her in a husky voice. 'Now it's my turn to get you all hot and bothered.'

He stood up, and Alexis propped herself to her elbows to watch him flip open his shirt buttons one at a time. He let the fabric hang loose on his body as he slithered his belt out of its loops before peeling off his shirt; he felt like a god when her eyes went wide and greedy at the sight of his body.

'You like that?'

'Oh, Doctor, hurt me,' Alexis said with a playful twang, making him chuckle.

'Then you'll love this.'

Shane drew down his zipper, shoved his pants to the floor to reveal he'd been going commando and licked his bottom lip when he saw Alexis' hand go to her belly, then up to toy with the revealing neckline of her dress. He watched her move backwards on the bed a little more, one foot planted while the other long leg stretched for miles. There was so much he wanted to do with her tonight, so much he wanted to explore but this first time together after the miscarriage, she needed his love and tenderness and he would give that to her.

But who said it didn't have to be scorching hot to be tender?'

Running his hands up her legs once more, Shane drew up the skirt of her dress, until he saw what he knew was beneath - the lacy tops of her stockings held up with needle thing purple garters that matched the deepest shade of her dress. Popping the hooks, he drew them down, one at a time, then went back for her panties, letting his fingers brush against and he groaned in frustrated satisfaction when he found her already wet.

Alexis closed her eyes, moaning softly. He'd barely touched her and her heart was thumping. Sitting up, she grabbed the hem of her dress and peeled it over her head, revealing the matching lacy bustier that made her feel incredibly sexy. She breathed deeply so her breasts rose and fell like ocean swells in anticipation of what would come next.

'Shane,' she sighed, and it was all Shane needed to hear.

Kneeling on the bed, he circled her delicate ankle with his thumb and forefinger, and began to kiss his way up the length of her smooth, silky leg until he reached the crease of her thigh, and moved his mouth over her, tasting her where she wanted him most. He heard her gasp and cry out for him, then those long fingers were twining through his hair, to pull him hard against her body as her hips ground a sensuous rhythm. She was crying out, whimpering how good it felt, to never stop. Shane reached up, grazed one breast with just the tips of his fingers while he lay his other hand palm first on her belly - the one that would eventually grow with their child, when the time was right - as he kissed and nipped and teased and tormented her. When she was reduced to nothing but syllables and broken words, Shane parted the swollen, tender lips he kissed and drove his tongue inside her. Her body went rigid, then lax as the orgasm rode through her like a valkyrie.

'Shane.' His name was a sob on Alexis' lips. 'Now, baby, please.'

'Lex.' He brushed his lips over her thigh once more and rose up to fit his body against hers while his hand fumbled under the pillow; he found the condom he's already stashed there. 'You want to help me?'

'Of course.'

With her head still spinning from the first glorious climax Alexis locked her legs around his hips and rolled them so she was on top, looking down into those deep blue eyes, so deep blue they were almost black with want for her. She tore open the packet and slowly, tortuously rolled on the protection. Still holding him in her hand, she straddled him and lowered herself so he filled her up to the hilt, his name an elongated sigh on her lips.

'Shane.'

He sat up, kissing her as he twisted his fingers through her hair, then streaked them down her back to her hips as he laid down again and she began to move on top of him. Each stroke she gave him, and he her, made the spring in his chest wind tighter and tighter as her hips went faster and faster against his until he was blind with her, consumed by her. He pressed his hands to her back and pulled her down so that when he came with her, she swallowed his moan of pure, unadulterated pleasure.

'Lex,' he murmured, stroking his hands up and down her back as their chests huffed and puffed like diesel trains. 'That was fantastic, my love.'

'Too bad it's at the end of our week together,' she started to reply, but Shane tapped her temple with his index finger.

'No, none of that tonight. Tonight is about you and me making up for that lost time in a big way. Besides, that was only round one.'

'How many rounds will there be?'

'As many as it takes,' he replied with a wink, loving the look on her face as he said it, 'to make you feel like the sexiest woman on the planet.'


	30. A Night of Romance II

_Hello all once more! I can't believe you guys are still giving this story so much love! It has been one of my faves to write so far and it still isn't done! **WARNING** this chappie is mos-def **NSFW** so read at home with a very cold drink handy!_

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><p>They managed to fit in a second round before they decided to order room service, or rather, before Shane called room service and had the requested order sent to the kitchen for preparation. It was, Alexis thought, another trick he hadn't missed on this day of first-class pampering.<p>

'Are you going to tell me what you ordered for us to have for dinner or is that another surprise on top of how many today?' she teased him, toweling her hair dry from the shower they'd taken together; she skipped the towel on her body and just wrapped herself up in a fluffy white bathrobe before running a brush through her damp locks while she perched on the end of the bed.

'No, the surprises are done for the night. Unless of course you mean the kind where I am surprising you in bed.'

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Alexis had to laugh. 'Did you have oysters for lunch, or take some Viagra or what?'

'If I'd taken Viagra, we'd still be in bed on round one, love.'

'Lucky me.'

'Like you said, we're making up for lost time from this week,' he reminded her, and with the towel slung at his hips crossed the bedroom to give her a sweet kiss before putting on his own complimentary bathrobe. Like herself, he'd opted to stay naked in case inspiration struck. 'Do you want to talk about Viagra still or do you want to know what we're eating?'

'Food. Food always wins.'

'Your favourites. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet corn, dandelion green-salad and for dessert, peach cobbler with whipped cream.'

'Oh, you do know your audience, baby,' she sighed, much in the same way she had when his mouth was on her body. 'The last time I got to have that, was back in the summer time, I think.'

'It was the day before Nessa was born. We knew the baby would be there soon so we had our going away dinner early,' Shane recalled, combing his fingers through his hair and admiring the look of his fiancee. Her face was a study of pure satisfaction, and the dreaminess in her eyes was one he hadn't seen all week. Though it had taken him a few extra weeks of overtime to pull together the dough for the spa afternoon, one look at her face right now told him every last back-ache and head-ache and heart-ache for the dead had been totally worth it. 'But I do have one last surprise for you.'

'Let me guess, you hid a Ferrari in the closet.'

'Okay, you got me. No, just wait a second, let me find it.'

Alexis watched him rummage through his bag, mumbling adorably to himself. He was the most fascinating man she'd ever met, she thought with a little smile. He could be the biggest suck in the world, like when he was tired and wanted a back rub, or the biggest bad-ass like when he'd wrestled Eli Hudek to the ground in the Twelfth Precinct's interview room. Or sometimes he was just plain goofy, like when he was talking to Chubbs the fish in the apartment.

Was it any wonder she loved him so?

Turning around, Shane handed her a medium sized white binder with a picture of them on the front. 'According to Meredeth and Javi, this will be a god-send for you as we're getting the wedding details prepared.'

'You got me a wedding planning binder?'

'Yes, yes I did.'

'You are the man, my man,' she grinned at him, then opened the binder to look inside, see that all the possible items to remember had been tabbed off alphabetically - Cake, Caterer, Dresses, Flowers, Honeymoon, Hotel, the list went on. Out of curiosity, she flipped to the 'Venues' tab and cracked up laughing when she saw the picture of the Queen Mary and underneath in Shane's handwriting were the words _Reception?_ 'Oh, god, I love you so much, Shane.'

'Love you too, my sexy Lexy. But if you get no boats, I am vetoing soul food for the reception. I don't care how much you love it, if I don't get a boat you don't get fried chicken.'

'That's fair. How do you feel about seven layer chocolate for the wedding cake?'

'Sounds delish but you'll be in a white dress and you're a spilly eater as it is.'

Alexis pursed her lips. 'What about white chocolate with raspberry jam and lemon curd?'

'Oh yeah,' Shane said with such satisfaction that Alexis giggled.

'Pass me that pen on the table.'

He did so, and she wrote on the sheet of lined paper in the 'Cakes' category 'wh. choc. w/rasp&lemon.' 'There,' she told him with a grin and recapping the pen, 'we've officially started wedding planning.'

'Wait wait.' Shane took the pen from her, wrote on the 'Ceremony' tab 'Rabbi Rory Gershowitz'. 'There, _now_ we've officially started wedding planning.'

There was a knock on the door and Shane went to answer it; Alexis followed him out and grinned at the scents coming from the room-service cart. She watched him sign for the tab, then grinned when the lids were lifted to reveal the aforementioned meal. 'I think I know why you ordered this,' she told him, snapping open the folded linen napkin as Shane took the plates and put them on the table in the sitting room.

'Why's that?'

'So that in all this glamorous-ness, we remember to stay grounded and not be snobby.'

'Something like that.'

'No?'

'Partially.' Shane grinned as he added horseradish mustard to his chicken, sitting across from Alexis. 'Mostly, I like watchign you catch drips of gravy off your chin with your tongue.'

'Dirty.'

'And you love me.'

Same goes, pal.'

They ate by the window, outside which snow was falling in the early November evening, talking about her return to Princeton and Thanksgiving in two weeks along with the plan for the trip in December with Andrea and Daniel - after some discussion, they'd decided to go ahead and say yes to the new parents, which had made Andrea jump and squeal in delight. They didn't want to short out being with their family at Meredeth and Esposito's for the big Christmas dinner, but Alexis reminded Shane that they were taking a midnight flight down which meant they could leave at nine-pm that night; on top of which Andrea, Daniel and Nessa would be at the same party they were, and they could probably leave together too.

When the meal was finished, Alexis suggested they kick back with a movie while they digested - nothing felt more unsexy in the world than trying to make love right after a large meal like that - and Shane nodded, went to his bag to pull out a small traveling case of DVDs from his suitcase.

'I've got _Man on the Moon_, _Avatar_, _Dirty Dancing_ or the original _Wicker Man_.'

'Oooh, _Wicker Man_, I haven't watched that in ages.'

'Really?' Shane looked at her with a note of surprise as he popped the disc into the player, snagged the remote. 'I thought for sure you'd go for Swayze and then be all over me by the time they get it on.'

Alexis grinned at him when he sat down beside her, pulled her close. 'Actually studies have shown that attraction is most heightened amongst couples watching horror movies, as the frightened partner will experience a rush of hormones centered around a hero complex.'

'You are so cute when you're quoting statistics.'

But as they settled in, enthralled by the delightfully spooky tale, Shane realized Alexis' cute quoting of a scientific report was accurate - the more uneasy she became, the tighter she clung to him, her breath coming and going slowly as she tried not to admit to him or herself that she was terrified. Moving cautiously, Shane slipped his fingers beneath her robe to find her skin there, softly rubbing his knuckles over the curve of her breast. Her fingers played lightly over his hand and held him there; she gave a soft little moan as he cupped her.

'Shane,' she murmured, planting a light kiss on his jaw.

'Yes, Alexis.'

'Can I ask you a question?'

'Sure.'

Alexis slipped out of his embrace, stood up so she was facing him. Her hands went to the belt of her robe and she tugged it, let the cashmere fall away from her body she she stood naked in front of him, fingers tracing lightly over her belly.

'Do I look as good naked as Britt Ekland?'

Shane could only stare at her, blindly raising his hand with the remote to mute the television. 'No.'

'No?'

'You look way better,' he breathed, felt himself grow hard beneath his robe. 'Way, way better. Come on over here, let me show you how much better.'

Alexis crossed to him, lower lip caught in her teeth as she did so. She straddled him on the couch, eyes going wide at the feel of him already at attention. 'That fast, baby?' she murmured, nipping at his lips.

'Well, feeling you up got it started, you know.'

She laughed, low and rich, then looked around. 'The condoms are still in the bedroom, we should probably get one before-'

'Right here.' Shane dipped into the pocket of his robe, produced two little packets. 'I thought this might happen, and I came prepared.'

'My little cub scout. Or should I say...' She trailed off, unbelting his robe and staring in open appreciation for him. 'My very big cub scout.'

Shane shifted so his arms felt out of the sleeves and he was naked with her, hand sliding up her smooth back to tangle in that waterfall of red hair he loved so much, then sliding around to cup her breasts. Her nipples were already stiffened into tempting little peaks and he indulged himself to taste one, then the other. The move made Alexis arch her back and moan his name in appreciation.

'Lex,' he murmured, trailing sticky lingering kisses over her breasts, up her shoulder to her neck where her pulse hammered frenetically.

'Shane. Don't be gentle this time.'

'Hmm?'

'Don't be gentle,' she repeated. 'I want you now. Hard, and fast, and now.'

Shane saw the light in her eyes and while there was love there, lust, bright red and lethal, burned there too. He nodded subtly, and in a move that made her squeak in delighted surprise, he flipped them so her head was pillowed against the arm of the couch, one long leg sliding to the floor and inadvertently opening herself to him even more. Shane stroked a palm down her centre roughly, down between her thighs where he found her brutally wet for him already. 'Guess you were feeling it too, huh?'

'Still am,' she breathed huskily, then cried out when his fingers swiped over her, inside her. 'Oh!'

There was no finesse in his touch this time, and as Shane kept his eyes locked on her face, he watched the flickers of pleasure from his roughness grow and multiply until those gorgeous blue eyes were sinking shut. Her back arched as she fought for breath, nails sinking deep into the fabric of the couch.

'Shane. Now.'

He would take her at her word.

Reaching past her hands for one of the condoms, Shane ripped the packet open and rolled the latex over himself, then took Alexis' other leg, hooked the ankle of the back of the couch and drove himself inside her. His name was a veritable scream on her lips and he captured her mouth as his hands gripped her hips to hold her steady. Each stroke, each thrust, had her crying out until the ring of her voice in pure sexual pleasure swamped his senses. Keeping his gaze on hers the entire time, Shane licked the pad of his thumb, then the other one and dragged both across the heated tips of her breasts, making her moan loudly.

Alexis swore she felt her eyes cross at the dampened touch to her breasts as he filled her, gave her what they both needed - good, sweaty, animalistic sex. With everything they'd been through, they needed something like this, just to blow it all out, as it were. She matched his moves, then because it felt like it needed to be done, she murmured one of the dirtiest things she ever said to him.

'Harder,' she whispered in his ear when he braced one hand on the couch arm behind her head. 'Shane, fuck me harder.'

Hearing those words in her sweet, angelic voice nearly made him come too soon, but Shane gritted his teeth and drove into her with even more intensity until she was all but vibrating with the need for release; with one final thrust, he watched as she broke apart, shattering into a thousand little pieces as the orgasm electrified her to the core. Before she finished, Shane felt the shift in his body, and with her long legs and arms wrapped around him, he tumbled over that edge with her, hard and fast.


	31. A Brunch Date

They didn't sleep, or in Shane's mind at least, they napped between love making. Four times in a single night, he thought, and once that morning too. He'd told her they'd make up for lost time and while they couldn't logically make up for it in quantity, they could certainly go for quality. And, he thought, creativity; he knew of no one else amongst his acquaintance who'd actually used the kitchen floor for making love. It may have been cliche but there was a reason it was a classic.

With a yawn, just as he finished dressing after his shower Shane answered the ringing room phone. 'Hello.'

'Hey lover boy, you're awake already? I thought you'd be in bed still.'

'Good morning to you too, Daniel,' Shane chuckled. 'I could say the same thing, considering your wife went with mine to the spa yesterday and came out all girly and whatnot. What's up?'

'Just wanted to know if you and Lex might be interested in brunch at our place today instead of dinner, say around eleven? My brother's in town on a delivery today and he wants to see his niece tonight.'

'Oh, sure, lemme ask.'

Shane set down the phone, went to find Alexis brushing her teeth in the ensuite bathroom. Like himself, her face was flush from the heat of the shower and relaxed from their last round of love making that morning. 'You up for brunch with Andrea and Daniel instead of dinner today?'

'What time?'

'Around eleven.'

'Sure, sounds good. We can bring bagels from Body's place, or those strawberry blintzes.'

'Thought you got enough sugar last night,' Shane winked at her, making her laugh.

Alexis spat in the sink, shook her head. 'And there's still tonight.'

'Then it's a good thing I'm going to stalk up on my carbs,' he called as he went back to the phone. 'Daniel, eleven's fine, we'll see you then.'

'You remember the address?'

'Yep, see you in a bit.'

Shane hung up the phone, and sitting on the side of the bed, he sighed contentedly. The case was done and Alexis was healthy; for Shane this was all he needed to know. Hearing her brushing her teeth as he packed their suitcases from the night in the hotel, being so couple-y and blessedly normal meant the world to him. He saw the hem of her dress peeking out from the unzipped garment bag, and inspired pulled the wedding planning binder he'd given her from the suitcase to write down an idea for the reception.

'Hey Alexis, what do you think of purple for the wedding colours?'

'What kind of purple?'

'Like in your dress, have one colour of the rainbow and then go from light to dark. Maid of honour is pale purple and then right down to the flower girl and ring bearer if we have them get like eggplant or something.'

'No idea if we'd have a flower girl or not but RJ is the ring bearer.'

'Of course. Sorry, I don't have all my blood back in my brain after last night.' Shane gave her a wink that made her laugh. 'Well, it is in one brain, but-'

'Why don't you quit while you're ahead?' Alexis giggled. 'Did I hear you say we're stopping at Body's bakery and we're going to Grammercy Park for eleven?'

'Yeah, we better get moving, I know.'

The phone rang again, and this time Alexis picked up. 'Hello?'

'Oh, hey Lexy, it's Lili. You guys are on your way to check-out?'

'Yep.'

'Good, I'll meet you there. There's something I need to give you.'

'Okay.'

Alexis hung up the phone, gave her fiance the fish-eye as they left their suite for the elevator to the main lobby. 'You didn't have anything else fancy planned, did you?'

'Nope, once we got to the sex, it was all Mother Nature. Except the part where we did it on the kitchen table of the suite. That one I kinda planned, or at least hoped for.'

'So Lili telling us she has a surprise for us is nothing to do with you?' When she saw his eyes glow in delight, Alexis had her answer. 'What are they all up to?'

They got their answer when they checked out of the hotel and Lili was there hovering by the agent's elbow. 'How was your night last night?' she asked politely, though her eyes widened ever so slightly when she asked it.

'Just what we needed after this hellish week,' Shane replied honestly, signing the slip for the room service they'd ordered - in addition to the dinner, they'd had a late night snack of champagne, fruit and whipped cream which cliche though it might have been gave them some very memorable moments of their night at the Waldorf. He grinned as Lili walked with them through the marble foyer; even in her three-inch pumps to match her suit, she was barely nose-to-shoulder with Alexis. 'That your way of asking Alexis for girly info while at work?'

'Oh, you do know our little family well. No, there is going to be a girl bash soon enough, probably on Thanksgiving where we'll worm it out of her. Here we are.'

They'd arrived at the sidewalk and Shane only chuckled when he saw Cedric and a car with him there - not the sleek baby limo, but a jaunty silver hybrid Lincoln. He grinned as he tossed away the butt of his cigarette and straightened his cap.

'Morning Doctor Weaver, Alexis. We heading home now?'

'No, we're heading to Grammercy Park. Brunch with friends and their new baby.'

'Oh, right on. Let me get that for you.'

The chauffeur loaded their suitcases into the trunk, and soon they were zipping through the streets until they arrived at Body's bakery where they picked up their pastries before ending at Daniel and Andrea's building. Cedric, ever ready to impress, once more helped them with their luggage and they were buzzed in by the new parents.

When they were on the doorstep of the Brick apartment, Shane turned to Alexis. 'Are you sure you're cool with this, being around Nessa and new mommy Andrea, not just the gal-pal version?'

'Shane.' Alexis leaned in kissed him lightly. 'Do yourself a favour and stop asking so many questions,' she teased him, using his words on her from the day before.

He grinned, tugged on her scarf. 'Think you're some kind of smarty-pants don't you?'

'And later, I'll be a smart no-pants.'

'Oh.' Shane groaned a little and gave her a kiss, just as the door opened to Daniel with Nessa in his arms, grinning widely.

'See, Nessa, that's the start of how you got here,' he told his little girl with a laugh as Shane and Alexis broke apart. 'Come on in, you guys.'

The apartment smelled wonderfully of breakfast foods and baby, a combination of milk and talc with bread and bacon. At the stove, Andrea was nudging slices of French toast around in a cast-iron skillet with a metal flipper. 'Right Mama?' Daniel asked his bride, careful to turn his body so Nessa wouldn't get splattered by a stray pop of grease.

'Right what?'

'Kissing leads to other things, and other things lead to babies.'

'That they do,' she agreed, then set down her spatula to greet Shane and Alexis. 'You two look...rested,' she said with an innocence that fooled no one.

'So you do,' Alexis returned in the same sly tone, then held up the box. 'We brought pastries from Love on a Bun. Fresh croissants with apricot jam and brie, and strawberry blintzes.'

'Sounds delicious. We've got bacon and french toast and if you like, I can whip up an omelette or two,' Andrea offered, but Shane waved her off.

'What you've got is fine. I wouldn't mind a crack at that baby, though. Come here, my little angel.'

Alexis watched as Shane took Nessa out of her daddy's arms and cuddled her close. The baby was confused at first but then settled against him when he spoke to her, the vibrations of his voice in his chest against her body had her settling in. In the back of her mind, she had a flash of Shane doing this with their own baby, and to her utter surprise, the thought of it didn't make her burst into tears the way she thought it would just a week after being in the hospital for a miscarriage. Instead she felt the happy rush in her veins that made her want to practice for their own little redhead bub.

'Who's that over there? Is that Auntie Lexy?' Shane crooned to Nessa, then passed the baby over to his fiancee, loving the way she accepted the child so lovingly. He couldn't imagine the hell it must have been to hold a baby that could very well have passed for their own, with her red hair and blue eyes, and be reminded of the fact she'd been pregnant but hadn't stayed that way for long. He knew they'd eventually get there, and that despite this little hiccup, there would be tonnes of practicing to get it right so when they looked at that Clear-Blue stick at home or saw the sonogram for the first time, there would be only tears of joy.

Clearing his throat, he and Daniel had a good laugh as they watched Nessa grab the tail of Alexis French braid and go 'Blb'.

'No, that's not Mama's, boo-boo.' Daniel came over, scooped up his little angel. 'I think it's almost time for your pre-lunch nap. Can you say night-night, Nessa?'

Alexis smiled, leaned in to give the adorable baby's cheek a kiss, as did Shane, and Nessa sneezed on the last one, then gave Shane a gummy little grin.

'She's starting to learn that we think her sneezing is funny, I think,' he told them, walking down the hallway to the nursery. 'And she's already started doing the cutest thing in her sleep.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah, she's started rolling to her tummy and putting her little tushy in the air when she soils her diapers.' Daniel scratched his neck. 'Guess that's daddy details you don't really need, huh?'

'You give us all the daddy details you want bro,' Shane replied honestly, even earnestly. 'It's alright.'

'Sounds good.'

'So, this trip in December,' Alexis said, thinking of what they'd talked about only in passing at the party two nights before. 'Is it going to be over New Years, or what?'

'No, we're leaving on the red-eye on the twenty-sixth to get to Antigua for six am. Andrea's going to be working with Haiko and Ando all day the twenty-seventh, -eighth, and -ninth, and then we have the thirtieth for ourselves. We're going to be renting this little villa too, two bedrooms so it's not like in a hotel where if you want a little privacy someone else has to leave.'

'Understandable.' Aleis nodded her head, snagged a slice of bacon off the plate. 'I've never been to Antigua.'

'It should be gorgeous. More, I'm just happy you don't feel put out that we might use you as a nanny here and there,' Andrea said honestly, transferring the last of the French toast to an already-heaping platter and bringing it to the table. 'Besides, Daniel and I both think you two could use the time away from everything. Don't get me wrong, the hotel night you did for her Shane was definitely the stuff of serious romance, but an actual getaway has its benefits too.'

'Especially Antigua in December. It's going to be gorgeous weather, out of hurricane season, and we have our villa right on the beach, just about half-a-click from the main scuba shop where Andrea's going to be working out of,' Daniel added with excitement. He was thrilled with the idea of going on a couples' vacation, and not only because it meant there was someone who wouldn't mind watching Nessa if he and Andrea wanted to go out one of those nights and enjoy a little island culture. 'Think about it, we'll all be going to your dad's New Year's Eve party with tans!'

'Just don't forget the sunblock this time,' Andrea reminded him with a giggle as they sat down at the table, began to fill their plates. 'Do you remember what happened in Saint Kitts?'

'Oh, what happened in Saint Kitts?' Shane asked eagerly as he drizzled maple syrup over his French toast and contemplated coffee.

'In a nutshell we were enjoying our private beach after a midday skinny dip and Daniel fell asleep on his towel without remembering the sunblock. You do the math.'

'Ouch,' Alexis winced. 'Doesn't get much worse than that.'

Daniel chuckled. 'Yes it does. I could have fall asleep on my back.'

'Bro, it's way too early to think about that kind of pain,' Shane commented. 'Pass the jam.'

They talked more about the trip, Shane and Alexis watching one another when the other wasn't looking, and feeling a great sense of contentment.

Everything was slowly going back to normal.


	32. A Day on the Beach

**5 Weeks Later**

Alexis woke early the morning of December twenty-eighth to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. _I'm living out a Bob Marley song_, she thought bemusedly, drumming her fingers on the bed beside her pillow. Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling fan turning lazy circles and sighed as she took stock of the last month of her and Shane's lives.

Eli Hudek had been taken back to Israel on orders from Shir, and ADA Ian Link hadn't objected in the slightest. Despite the fact the murder of Yassir Lewertow had taken place in New York, both he and his boss had agreed with no quibbling that it was most definitely a matter for Shir and her people to deal with, so they'd closed Yassir's case with a resolute thud, with the tape from the Interview room serving as his confession. Copies of all the legal documents had been sent with Shir back to Israel, where as the NYPD cops had predicted, Eli Hudek wouldn't breathe natural air for the rest of his years, however long those might be if they didn't put him up against a wall.

Prior to Shir's departure, however, they managed to make good on the plan of Shir and Castle and Beckett having a meet-the-inlaws meal at the loft, which had served as Alexis' bye-bye meal too. They'd eaten Mexican and had had great fun trying to get RJ to say the word 'quesadilla'; it kept coming out more like 'kissa-dayo' making them all laugh uproariously. Ever the gentleman, the toddler had also insisted that Shane get both Alexis and his mother flowers, and everyone had seen Shir fall headlong in love with RJ the way they all had at the boy's sense of manners.

The month after the case was wrapped had been a blur to Alexis as she'd gone back to school and was right in the thick of studying for exams, and when he could, Shane would come down and spend a night with her or his days off when she had nothing but studying and studying and more studying to do. He did indeed turn into Mister Mom for her, doing the laundry - even her delicates - and prying her away from the books when he deemed it was time for a break; he was no slouch in the kitchen and had made her all sorts of good study foods, especially his infamous Weaver split pea soup with the cheesy garlic toast. It was a most welcome remedy for her soul when she just couldn't handle anymore reading on central nervous systems or bone density.

The night of Alexis' last exam also happened to be the first night of Chanukah, so she'd taken the train back to New York and stopped by a little shop she knew to get the fruit beignets with mocha dipping sauce for their disgustingly greasy first night of Chanukah meal - this year it was Chinese food with practically deep-fried everything. They had a huge spinach salad to go with it so they wouldn't feel ill, and they'd capped the night off by watching _Eight Crazy Nights_ and Alexis had debuted some new blue and silver lingerie she'd been saving just for this occasion.

Christmas had no no slouchy affair either - they'd spent Christmas Eve at the loft and stayed the night so they could have their Christmas morning with the family; just as Alexis was embracing Shane's traditions, he was embracing hers. RJ had bounded into the room and jumped into the middle of their bed, flailing wildly over 'Sanna's visit' and knocking poor, abused Omeo about, and asked Shane if Omeo would get any presents since he'd been a good bunny all year. There had been stockings and gifts galore, and a gorgeous turkey dinner with all the trimmings that night, including RJ's cookies he was so adorably proud of. He also informed them he'd made, with his mama and sister's help, cookies for all his 'buddies' for Christmas gifts.

By the time the day at Meredeth and Esposito's had been finished, they were actually looking forward to the red-eye flight if for no other reason it would give them a little bit of peace and quiet after the whirlwind of the holidays. They'd arrived in Antigua at just after six that morning, and all of them were ready for a sleep. Andrea had already come down on the twenty-sixth to get herself situated as her work day would be starting the day the rest of them arrived, so Alexis and Shane had decided to help Daniel out with baby Nessa, and keep an eye on her while he got some sleep. They'd all enjoyed a delicious barbecue dinner before taking a little trip up the shore in the boat that came with their villa rental.

Now, they were on day two and Alexis felt like her system had righted itself once more. She was used to it after the crazy hours she kept as a medical student in exams. A quick glance at the clock told her it was just past nine am, and as she blinked her eyes, she swore the birds outside her and Shane's bedroom window were whistling _The Lazy Song _by Bruno Mars.

'Lex, go back to sleep, my sweet.' Shane didn't have to have his eyes open to sense his fiancee wide awake beside him. 'We're on vacation, we're supposed to be lazy.'

'I know, just thinking about how gorgeous it is here.'

'Bullshit, you were thinking about breakfast.'

'Okay, that too,' she laughed. 'I'm hungry. All that swimming yesterday really took it out of me.'

'I think you ate almost a whole shoulder of barbecued pork yourself,' Shane teased her, tugging at the sheets she'd wrapped around her breasts and pulling her close. 'You are looking all sun-kissed and glowing.'

'Am I? I thought I was going to blind the fish with how white I was when we were in the ocean yesterday afternoon. They don't even have eyelids to shut like that.'

'Poor fish.'

'So what are we doing today?'

'Actually, I was thinking that we might take a walk down to the harbour there and see about getting some scuba gear or something. We already got our licensing back in New York with Andrea before we left, right? We can see if there's a guy who will take us out for a three hour tour or something.'

'Okay, there, Gilligan,' Alexis giggled, making Shane furrow his brow for a moment.

'Oh, right that old TV show.'

It was moments like that when Alexis was reminded her fiance didn't grow up in the states so she simply kissed his cheek and tossed back the covers. 'Come on, let's find some clothes and go scare up breakfast.'

Once dressed they headed downstairs to find Daniel and Nessa in the living room, and for a moment they just enjoyed the incongruous picture they made: at six-three and two-fifty Daniel was a bruiser at first blush, but once he'd gotten to know the man a little better Shane came to understand he was the epitome of the phrase 'gentle giant'. Nowhere was this more apparent than seeing Daniel with his almost-five month old baby girl, who was currently making her colourful play-mat shake and rattle with noise as she wiggled around.

'Bububub,' Nessa gurgled at her father, which made them both smile.

'I know, you were such a good girl this morning, drinking up your breakfast with no mess. Mama will be happy to hear that, won't she? Those little bubbles in your tummy are finally gone.'

'Mamamam?'

'She's working today, my little sweet-pea, but we're going to have so much fun, we are going to the beach again today with Auntie Alexis and Uncle Shane, and I know you want to go in the water again. You're just like Mama, aren't you? Yeah you are my little mermaid.'

'Dididid.'

'Yes, Daddy's going to be there.' Daniel tickled the baby's tummy, making Nessa shriek in delight, then swung her into his arms as he glanced up and saw Alexis and Shane there. 'Hey, Nessa, looks like your auntie and uncle are already up!'

He stood up, turning so the baby could see the others and Nessa immediately stretched out her arms towards Alexis, yet rather than wanting a hug, she simply reached over and tugged on Alexis' hair with chubby baby digits.

'Mumumumum.'

'That's right, baby, that's like Mama's, isn't it?' Alexis cooed, bopping Nessa lightly on the nose with the tip of her finger and got a gummy little grin for a reply. 'Aren't you so cute?'

Nessa responded with a little sneeze, the grin never leaving her face which made Shane chuckle. 'You are a little comedy-queen, Nessa. A little red-headed Jamie Carrey, as it were.'

'Oh, she is a funny one. There's pancake batter in the fridge, if you guys are hungry for that, or there is fresh fruit and bread too if you want that.'

'I'm good with a cold drink, if we're going to the beach,' Alexis replied, looked at Shane. 'You?'

'Seeing you in a bikini and the chance of Daniel getting a repeat embarrassing sunburn will always win over food.'

'There we go,' Alexis smiled. 'Juice, then swimsuit.'

* * *

><p>As their villa was right on the warm sand of the beach, they didn't even need to really pack up a bag; they were only steps from the patio. Alexis kept Nessa in her arms in her charming baby swimsuit and sun-hat, loving the way the little girl wriggled with joy in her arms. While the men set about getting the umbrella and towels set up, Alexis walked with Nessa to the shoreline, where the mild ocean water lapped at her feet, making her giggle.<p>

'Oh, that feels so good, Nessa!' she told the baby, then crouched down so Nessa could dip her toes in too. 'Whatcha think, sweetie?'

'Blb!'

'Yeah, it's pretty neat stuff. This is called the Atlantic Ocean, and it's very very big, and way, way over that way-' Alexis pointed to the east '-is where I went to school. Maybe when you're big enough, you'll visit there.'

Shane stood up, watched Alexis with the baby and felt his heart give a little lurch. He knew it had been over a month since her miscarriage, she'd even had her period since then, and watching her with Nessa - especially Nessa, since she could almost pass for their baby - still made him ache for their lost baby a little bit. Then it was gone, as Alexis turned back and grinned at him.

'Come on in, Uncle Shane,' she said to him, 'the water's great!'

As it was a line he'd used on her the first time they'd made love, he had a hard time resisting her. Especially, he thought, when she was wearing that black and electric green bikini. Pulling his shirt over his head, he walked down to the water's edge and knelt in the sand beside her, poking Nessa in her pudgy-baby tummy.

'So what do you think Nessa, you wanna come scuba diving with us, or you gonna help your pops collect up some pretty seashells for Mama?' he asked her, wrinkling his nose at the baby, then watched her let go of Alexis hand and reach for the wet sand. 'Oh, no, no, darling, that's not for snacking.'

Shane grabbed Nessa's wrist to guide it away from her mouth just as Daniel's shadow fell across them, and he glanced up, saw the new dad with the water-proof camera in his hand.

'Let me get a picture of you guys, then it's body-surfing time.'

'Oh, Daniel, I look all hot and sweaty,' Alexis protested, but Daniel shook his head.

'You look beautiful.'

'Watch it, pal,' Shane warned him playfully. 'That's my woman. Yours is that way.'

He pointed down the beach and Nessa mimicked the gesture as children were want to do, so Alexis joined in to make it look like they were all picking something out on the horizon; Daniel took the picture and made sure to flag it on the camera as one for printing.

'Looks awesome you guys. Now, Nessa and I are going to get some sunblock on and build some sandcastles for Mama to see in the picture album.'

'Is Andrea a little upset you guys are here while she's working?' Alexis asked as they went back up the small slope of the beach to their umbrella.

'No, she starts at seven and done at five so we have the whole evening together, and Nessa's a night hawk, she naps and eats later than most babies so her bedtime is eight and then she's awake later in the morning too.'

'That helps,' Alexis commented, stretching out face down on her towel. 'Shane? Ye got any grease?'

'Aye, I've grease, woman, I'll grease ye down,' Shane replied, picking up the tube of sunblock and giving it a shake.

'Dare I ask?' Daniel laughed as he smeared baby-grade Coppertone on his daughter's exposed skin. 'Does it have something to do with that tattoo on your arm?'

'A little bit,' Shane chuckled. 'It's one of my favourite moments from the series, when Groundskeeper Willie asks Lunch-Lady Doris for grease and tells her there's nothing quicker than a greased Scotsman.'

'Well, I hope for Alexis' sake that you aren't a greased Scotsman for other things.'


	33. A Funny Little Moment

By the time Andrea arrived back after her day was finished, she came back to find the barbecue in full flame manned by Daniel while Shane was giving Nessa her milk-formula mixed bottle and Alexis was preparing some kind of local-produce salad.

'How was your day today, guys?'

'Fantastic, we had a beach day,' Alexis replied. 'Nessa found some seashells for her first souvenirs.'

'Did you?' Andrea went over to her baby girl, who smiled around her bottle, then popped it out of her mouth, dribbling milk down her chin as she smiled at her mother. 'Oh, dear, sweet-pea you got a little spill there. Where is-'

'Right here.' Shane picked up a baby cloth that was resting on the couch beside him and he swiped at Nessa's chin before passing her over to her mother. 'I'm going to give Alexis a hand with dinner. Hope you're in the mood for barbecue.

'Actually...'

'What?'

'I was able to get reservations for Daniel and I at the Pepperpot, this little fine-dining spot at the yacht club so, would you be abel to look after Nessa for a few hours?'

'Of course. That means more jerk chicken for us, doesn't it Nessa?'

Nessa, who was having her back patted by her mother, gave a sturdy little belch and giggled. 'Blb.'

'I'll take that as a yes,' Alexis said from her spot in the kitchen, clearly having heard everything. 'Shane, can you give me a hand here?'

'Sure.'

'Let's go find Daddy, Nessa.' Andrea crooned at her baby, headed outside to find her husband. When the door was shut behind her, Alexis looked at Shane, gave him a little elbow.

'We'll need to move Nessa's sleeping arrangements into our room for the night.'

'Obviously. You want to do that now, let me take care of this?'

'No, we'll wait. We don't want to embarrass them. Did you ever hear about how Ryan and Honey-Milk figured out they were dating?'

'I don't think so, no.'

'It was the day Mallory was born, they were acting a little weird and Ryan -_ Ryan_ - of all people pretty much asked them if they'd just finished boning in the on-call room after he put it together.'

Shane laughed richly. 'Then it must have been very obvious if he was willing to make a sex joke. Some days I wonder how the hell they are best friends.'

'Javi's mostly just pervy when he's in baby mode with Meredeth.'

'Fair enough. Oh, here they come.'

Daniel opened the sliding door, brought in the platter of chicken ripe with smoke and spices. He gave them a smile that was clearly controlled from being too eager.

'So, you guys cool with watching Nessa for a little bit tonight?'

'Of course.'

'She's pretty good to go to bed, just make sure she has her bottle of water and her bunny.'

'Oh, another bunny-lover,' Alexis said with a chuckle. 'My brother just loves his Omeo.'

'How did RJ name his toy Omeo?' Andrea asked, settling Nessa into her high-chair.

'He's the colour of oatmeal, and when RJ was learning to talk he kept trying to say 'oatmeal' but it was mangled into 'Omeo' and it stuck.'

'Ah, I see.'

Shane just shook his head. He may have worked with the dead on a daily basis, but he knew better than anyone the signs of someone stalling; it came inherent with people not wanting to peek under the sheets at his customers. 'Guys, go get ready, enjoy your night out.'

* * *

><p>Alexis hadn't realized it until Andrea and Daniel were gone from the house on their date that she'd been looking forward to the same thing with Shane - a nice, relaxing evening just the two of them together without any interruptions. Nessa was an exception, obviously, but by quarter to eight, she was already in her pjs and tucked into her plan-pen bed with its bug-netting cover so she wouldn't be bitten by anything. Baby monitor in hand, Alexis jogged down the stairs to find Shane pulling a bottle of spiced rum from the freezer, along with a pitcher of fresh fruit juice and a couple of glasses.<p>

'Is this like the island version of teenagers necking on the couch while their babysitting charge is asleep?' she asked lightly, making him grin lasciviously.

'Something like that. It's been awhile since we've gotten to do this, have a grown-up night just for us two without any cares or stresses.'

Shane loaded the fixings for their drinks onto a tray, and carried them towards the sliding doors of the patio; Alexis followed him out and they sat down at the little table, lights dimmed in the kitchen so as not to attract bats or other nightly creatures. 'Shall I pour, my sweet?'

'Just a light one, until Andrea and Daniel get back...but they'll be getting all frisky and romantic, so sure, loaded it up.'

Shane poured the rum, the island juice into a glass with ice, then one for himself and clinked his tumbler against hers before settling into the long lounge chair behind her so he could lean forward and smell seawater and soap on her skin. 'Here's to a healthy and happy and drama free new year in four days.'

'Agreed. I've had more than enough in the last month to last a life time.'

'Well, not totally drama free, but not that kind of drama.'

'Drama like the excitement leading up to the wedding.'

'Exactly.'

Alexis sipped her drink, pursed her lips. 'Let's just say for arguments' sake I lost my mind and acquiesced to having one of our wedding-related parties on a boat, which one would you want it to be?'

'So not the reception, not the wedding itself? I'd go for the rehearsal dinner. Think about it, Fourth of July fireworks on a cruise around Liberty Island? That's just awesome.'

'Why the Fourth of July, we're getting married on the eighth.'

'Yeah, but in Jewish tradition, the bride can't see the groom three days before the wedding, so that would be our last night together before the big day.'

'Huh. Didn't know that.' She swirled the rum and juice in her glass, the ice cubes playing bumper cars with each other. 'Okay then.'

'Okay then, what?'

'We can do the rehearsal dinner on a boat.'

Shane blinked, stared at her in the dim light. 'Are you drunk already?'

'No, but I know that marriage is about compromising with your partner, so I'm saying I'm willing to have some part of the wedding experience on a boat if you let me have fried chicken with mashed potatoes and the fixins' at the rehearsal dinner.'

'Done. Hey, check it out.'

Shane gestured down the beach where a couple was walking, propped up against each other before turning and embracing, then undressing each other as they raced into the ocean under the moonlight. The light breeze had the murmur of their voices carrying towards them.

'Hey, isn't that-' Alexis started to say but Shane clapped his hand over her mouth.

'Don't spoil the moment for them, being new parents they probably don't get a lot like this,' he murmured in a low voice.

'So let's go inside and give them some privacy.'

'Can't do that either, they'll hear the doors and know that someone is out here.'

Alexis blinked at him. 'Okay, now it's my turn, are _you_ drunk?' she hissed. 'We can't just hang out here and enjoy the show, this isn't Thailand.'

''Thailand?' Shane repeated, trying not to laugh out loud.

'I hear things,' she replied stiffly, then melted a little when she felt his lips near her ear.

'Think of it this way, we stay out here, we can tease them about their midnight skinny dipping later.'

'That's very true.'

'Or...we can just be making out on the chaise-lounge here and pretend we didn't even notice them at all.'

'A much better idea.'

Alexis drained her glass, set it aside to turn over on her stomach and be pressed against his chest, her lips a whisper away from his. 'Drinking and sexy times? We're very bad babysitters.'

* * *

><p>The following morning, when Alexis and Shane headed downstairs for breakfast, they got a little jolt at seeing Andrea brewing coffee while Nessa flapped her arms from her spot in her high-chair. 'Hey, you're still here,' Shane commented. 'Thought you'd be long gone by eight am.'<p>

'Late day today. We're starting at ten and then working until eight so we can do a little night-diving prep. Not one of my favourite things, but it'll only be an hour.'

He couldn't resist. 'Funny, I thought you liked night-swimming.'

'Yeah, but skinny-dipping with my husband after a hot date is different than taking some bang sticks to watch for sharks and eels and rays.' Andrea looked up from adding cream to her coffee. 'And Daniel and I had a very hot date last night. So fair is fair, since you're in the Caribbean on vacation too, you should have a hot date night without Daniel and I hanging around interfering. I reccomend the Pepperpot at the yacht club.'

'That's so nice, but...oh, damn, I'll be right back.' Shane looked at his watch, then raced upstairs.

'What's that about?' Andrea asked, taking a damp cloth to Nessa's mouth and hands.

'No idea, but now that he's gone...you're not angry, are you?'

'What, that we knew you two were on the patio when Daniel and I did things to frighten the fishes last night?' Her eyes twinkled. 'Did it occur to you that maybe we liked the element of maybe getting caught, that it added to the rush?'

It hadn't in the slightest so Alexis coloured in the cheeks a little. 'Man, why are we so obsessed about knowing so much about each other's personal lives in our little family? Most normal people I know don't give out information like this.'

'Makes us special, and also, it'd be rather hypocritical of us to pretend we don't enjoy healthy happy physical relationships with our spouses when all of us, with you being the only exception to date, are parents. Babies don't start by burying a diamond in the cabbage patch and waiting for the stork.'

'I suppose that's true, but still...don't you ever get tired of all the innuendos?'

'Bite your tongue girl,' Andrea laughed, then nudged aside her coffee cup. 'You know about my family history, right? What I went through?'

'Uh-huh.'

'Until I met all of you, and you welcomed Daniel and I in like long lost siblings, I had no idea it was okay to talk about things like that with female friends and not have it be something taboo and disgusting and inappropriate. So you may think it's overboard, but for me, it's a reminder of acceptance.'

Alexis thought of when she'd been on the beach with the girls in the Hamptons not quite six months into her relationship with Shane. They'd been passing around a copy of _Cosmo_ that had some kind of DIY-list for seducing their men and they'd included her as one of them. The feeling of maturity it had given her, that she was one of them and no longer the in-between child, was something she'd always treasure.

'And since you were such a nice little sister and sharing about your hot-hot-_hot_ night with Shane at the Waldorf,' Andrea continued, 'I can share whatever you're comfortable hearing about our date last night. Later.'

'Why later?'

Andrea simply pointed to the stairs where Shane jogged down, looking slightly relieved.

'Sorry. My pops was flying to Israel this morning to meet my mother and I almost forgot I'd promised him I'd say 'safe flight' before he left.' He looked from Alexis to Andrea and back. 'What are we talking about?'

'Girl stuff,' Alexis told him, then winked at Andrea and when the woman returned the gesture, she understood what Andrea meant.

'Say no more, that's as sacrosanct as conversation over poker with the boys.' Shane looked over at Nessa. 'You getting in on that action, Nessa?'

'Bubububub.'

'Ah, yeah, you've got your own little drama with Leo and Violet, don't you?'

'Bubub.'

'Okay, well,' Shane took the coffee Alexis poured for him, sat down beside the high chair, 'you tell me all about it.'

'Shane she doesn't even have teeth, how the hell can she be in a love triangle already?'

'Easy. Leo loves Nessa, and Violet loves Leo. Now, how are you planning to let him down easy, and tell him to ask Violet to be his Valentine?'

Andrea watched Shane with him, saw the way Alexis looked at her man and grinned. She knew when the time was right, these two would make one hell of a parenting team.


	34. A Flirtation

'How's the island life treating you?'

'It's been great so far, Dad.'

Alexis kept the phone on speaker mode as she finished brushing her hair for her date night with Shane. While it wouldn't be as fancy as Waldorf night, she knew it was going to be just as delightful and certainly just as passionate. 'We're going on an island date tonight. Local restaurant, dancing in the sand, walk on the beach. The stuff of romance.'

'Less, you home soon? Shan' too?'

'Yes buddy,' she laughed, hearing RJ on the line too. 'We'll be home soon, but even though we're having fun on vacation, don't worry. We haven't forgotten about you.'

'Bing home shells? Peasant fo' my Tah-rini?'

'Okay, big guy, I'll be sure to get you a shell to give to Trini.'

'How about I just bring home a big bag for everyone to pick from,' Alexis snickered, 'and then everyone's happy?'

'O-kay, soun' good ta-me.'

Now it was Castle's turn to laugh. 'Alexis is not you present gopher, RJ. And Alexis, that's not fair using sarcasm on a two-year-old.'

'Dad.'

'Now that being said, I wouldn't say no to a nice bottle of island rum.'

'Who's the present gopher again?'

'Right. You go have a good night with your man, we'll meet you guys at the airport in a few days.' There was the sound of scuffling on the other end of the line and RJ's voice was back once more.

'Love you Lessis, give Shan' mooshes an' hugs. See soon!'

'Bye-bye, little bro. Love you guys too.'

Alexis hung up the phone, sighed contentedly as she looked in the mirror. This was going to be a very fun night, indeed. Slipping on her shoes, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She'd done a little shopping that afternoon while Daniel had wanted the house quiet for Nessa to have her nap, and had picked out a blue dress in breezy cotton decorated with large white flowers. Her shoes were a low-heel in matching white, and she'd even found a little barrette of silk flowers to match her dress as well. She'd done her eyes and lips so that there was just a hint of colour there, enhancement rather than transformation.

'Shane,' she murmured, 'you don't have a prayer tonight.'

Alexis scooped up her purse, then all but danced downstairs where she found Shane sitting with Daniel at the kitchen counter. He was fresh showered and despite the fact he already had golden-hued skin, he had definitely gotten a little tan during their beach days. His hair was damp and curling on the back of his neck and the shirt and pants he'd chosen showed off the fact that he was solid-bodied and fit.

Then he looked up at her with those deep blue eyes and Alexis swallowed a little more tightly when he gave her that slow, sexy smile.

'Hello, my sexy Lexy,' he all but purred at her; she hadn't know a man could purr.

'Hello, Doctor,' she returned, giving him a slow smile that had a similar one spreading over his lips.

'You ready?'

'Of course.'

Shane stood up, brushed at his pants to ensure he wasn't going to embarrass himself and held out a little white blossom to her. He'd stolen it from the bouquet of blossoms Alexis had arranged on the kitchen table that afternoon and he tucked the stem of it behind her ear, then offered her his arm. 'Let's hit the town, sweet lady.'

* * *

><p>The Pepperpot, the restaurant situated on the beach across the way from the world-famous Antigua Basin Yacht Club, was fancy but welcoming; the glasses sparkled in the light of the hurricane lamps while the sound of steel drums drifted through the open windows of the restaurant. As Shane requested when they'd made their reservation, the hostess walked them through the main room to the patio, where tables were sitting on a squared out boardwalk and the sand square in the middle was for dancing to the island band when you'd finished your meal.<p>

The waiter came over, poured them wine and as they sipped the icy pinot noir - it didn't matter that it was red wine, all alcohol was served chilled here - they looked out over the water to see all the boats floating on the gentle current.

'So, I was thinking we might talk wedding a little more,' Shane suggested, and watched her eyes light up.

'What did you have in mind?'

'The honeymoon. I think we should do a double-header.'

'Excuse me?' Alexis had never heard of this. 'A double header?'

'It was something I was reading about on a slow night at work when I was bored.' Shane took a sip of his wine, loving the icy red flavour on his tongue. 'Some couples go to two different places for their honeymoon, somewhere they want to take their spouse that they've never been. One couple I was reading about, the woman had never been to Hawaii, and the man had never been to California and he was a real oenophile so she took him to Sonoma Valley for a week in wine country, and then he took her to Hawaii for a week after that.'

'That is very cool. I'd definitely consider it,' Alexis told him genuinely. 'There are so many things to pick from, you know? Do we want cultural, do we want sand and sexy, do we want adventure?'

'Why can't we do that all?' Shane suggested. 'We start in the south of France, say in Nice, then head down through Italy to Rome or something.'

'Now that's a great idea. I've never been to Italy or south France.'

'Neither have I. But I've also never been to California wine country either.'

'Hey I had a thought earlier,' Alexis started, but found herself interrupted by the waiter coming over to take their orders. They decided on the restaurants signature dish, the pepperpot, to split with steamed rice and roasted yams, before returning to their conversation.

'What was your thought?'

'What is going to happen with your bachelor party?'

Shane blinked, squirmed a little. He'd heard the stories from the other men of the Twelfth Precinct about the send-offs they'd gotten...which had all been planned by Richard Castle. 'Oh. Oh, I see what you mean.'

'You made that leap too, huh? What do you think they'll do?'

'I think your dad will still have a hand in it, but I don't think he'll be the ringleader like he was for the others.'

'You really think so?' Alexis asked, genuinely surprised by his confidence.

'I really do. I think it's one of those things where he'll be able to put on the blinders a little bit. The real problem would be when the guys all get to bragging about their antics with their women. I cannot refer to you by name around them some days. Remember how they were when we talked about our private life when Eli was in Interview?'

'Kind of hard to forget that.'

'Exactly. If I don't refer to you as Alexis, Lex, or Sexy Lexy, they'll probably be fine.' Shane looked over at the beachy dance-floor and recognized the tune on the steel drums. 'You feel like dancing before dinner?'

'Why not?'

He held out his hand to her and led her to the square, waiting patiently while she slipped off her shoes. When she was in her bare-feet, Shane led her past the torches lighting their way and held her close as they listened to one of Elvis Presley's most beloved songs. While most had long since thought the song cheesy and overdone Shane hadn't heard it in ages and thought this version of 'Can't Help Falling in Love' was one of the most beautiful he'd ever heard.

Alexis laid her head on her fiance's shoulder, closed her eyes as she took it all in. She was in the Caribbean, dancing on the beach with her fiance and they were talking about planning their wedding. The smell of the salt breeze, the feel of the sand beneath her feet made her feel like a fairy-princess. A very naughty one, she thought, turning her head so she could smell that deep gorgeous smell of him and pecking her lips at the curve of his neck.

'Shane?'

'Yes, my sweet.'

'Five bucks says I can make your head explode right now.'

He eyed her, saw the light of devilish challenge in her eyes. 'Can you now?'

'Oh yes.'

'That is quite the bold statement, Almost-Doctor Weaver, but give it your best shot.'

'I'm not wearing a stitch under this dress.'

The words had the desired effect and Alexis watched his golden complexion blanch pale. 'One more time, sweetie, I thought I heard you say you're going commando under that dress.'

'I am,' she replied, and feminine power slid through her core, warm and bright when she saw him swallow deeply. 'Thought I'd take advantage of the fact we are just a beach-walk away from the villa and we might take a page out of Andrea and Daniel's book from last night, go skinny dipping once we're done with dinner.'

'I think you are a temptress sent straight from paradise,' Shane replied; whenever she indulged in her bad-girl self like this, he turned into a poet for some reason. At least, he thought, until he got his hands on her in a more private setting than an exclusive restaurant. 'And I can't wait to get you alone.'

'That makes two of us.'

* * *

><p>Dinner was a blur, a delicious one, Alexis thought, as she and Shane walked up the beach towards the little bank of lush greens that created a natural fence-line for their villa's property. The lights in their neighbours windows were winking on and off, and they tried to make themselves behave until they reached that row of plants, but Shane couldn't help himself; they were feet away from their place when Shane pulled her tight against her with little finesses and began to nibble on her lips, her neck, her shoulder where the narrow cotton strap of her dress rested on her creamy skin.<p>

'Shane,' she murmured, 'at least let's wait until we're in the water.'

'No, bed.'

'Why not the water?'

'I have no condoms in my wallet, Lex.'

Alexis nodded. 'Right. Don't want to live through that again.'

'Not at all.' He paused a moment. 'On second thought, though...'

'What?'

'Who says we can't have a little wet and wild foreplay?' Shane wiggled his eyebrows. 'Last one in the water buys the booze at the duty free in Miami tomorrow night.'

'You're on.'

Like children eager to escape the confines of clothes, the pair of them raced towards the water, tossing shirt and shoes and dress and pants in their wake. The water was breast-bone deep on Alexis ten feet from shore and they dove into the small breaking waves, popping out of the salt water like little corks. Shane looked over and even in the moonlight, he could see the outline of her body in the water, and couldn't help but laugh a little when he actually saw her breasts float up a little bit.

'What?' she asked him, oblivious to it.

'Apparently it's not just fake boobs that float in the water,' he commented, pointing towards her chest. 'Even the real McCoys are buoyant.'

Alexis looked down at herself and smiled. 'It actually makes them look a little bigger, don'tcha think?'

'I think they look like my fiancee's boobs which are my perfect handful,' he replied, kicking his way over to her and wrapping his arms around her. 'And right now, I now she's already wet and hot and naked, so the question is, what are we going to do about it?'

'What indeed.'

She dipped her head to kiss him, since he was farther down in the water than her. 'Perhaps we go back to the villa, rinse out the saltwater then dry off by...rubbing up against each other?'

'Oh, that sounds like a very good idea,' he groaned.

They went back to the shore, collecting up their clothes as they went and sneaking into the villa partially dressed, leaving wet footprints everywhere they went. When they made it up to their room, Alexis zeroed in on their beach towels and tossed him one. 'You want to do my back or my front first?'

Later, when they'd rubbed up and rubbed down while still being mindful of the fact they weren't alone in the villa, Alexis and Shane lay twined together in their bed, listening to the sounds of the ocean and the night creatures outside.

'Shane?'

'Lex?'

'I think if we go somewhere tropical for our honeymoon, we should have a private residence with a very very private beach so we can make love whatever time of day we want and not worry about being interrupted.'

'Agreed.'


	35. A Love For the Ages

Shane awoke the next morning to his fiancee's butterfly touch. She had such delicate hands that belied a great strength in them. Fluttering his eyes open, he saw her watching him, with that gentle sweetness that had made him fall in love with her in the first place. Without saying a word, he pulled her in for a kiss, slow and tender; Shane could feel her awaken against him as he did so.

Twisting so that she was beneath him, her red hair forming a halo around her face, he cupped her cheek in his palm as he pressed his body into hers, reveling the way the tips of her breasts were tickled and teased by the light fuzz of dark hairs on his chest; the sensation of it made her breathe long and deep, pushing her breasts against his body even more. His lips ran over her skin until they found hers, lush and full.

Alexis heard his deeply satisfied sigh as they kissed and she let her thighs fall open for him, to cradle him. Just the feel of him against her like this, taking their time and enjoying each other's bodies, reminded her that every last late night phone call, every game of email tag, even the wish-you-were-here Skype conversations were all worth it when the prize at the end of the day was Shane Weaver. She combed her fingers through his hair, stroked them down the back of his neck and gasped a little when she felt his fingertips brush her hardened nipple.

'I remember this spot,' Shane murmured, kissing her more deeply this time, adding a little tongue to it while he toyed with that little bump of sensitive flesh ripe with nerve endings. 'You really go wild for me when I touch you here.'

He continued to alternate his fingertip and thumb there as he kept his lips on hers until she was finally sighing breathily in his ear for him to use his hands on her elsewhere; being an astute sort Shane knew exactly what she wanted and so he slipped his hand between their bodies and brushed his fingers over her, just the lightest of touches. Her moan in his ear, a strangled sound of pleasure, made Shane feel like a god; he'd barely touched her and she was whimpering already for him, and once again, surprising him with even more taunting dirty talk as she asked for him to use his tongue on her.

Moving down the bed, Shane kept his hands on her thighs to keep them apart, and when he nipped at that slick, animal-scented flesh, she cried loudly for him, then cut herself off.

'There are other people in the house, we need to keep it down,' she hissed, breath coming in pants.

'Are you telling me or reminding yourself?'

'Both.'

Shane nodded, and despite the fact he wanted to kiss and suckle right where he was, he knew what he really wanted to do would make everyone a little embarrassed with Alexis' loud reactions to it. So he slithered up her body, watching his fiancee's eyes pop wide as she felt the hard length of him against her tender heated lips, and without another thought, he reached for the condom still left on the bedside table from the night before.

'I want to watch you,' she murmured.

'Watch me?'

'I don't want to help I just want to watch.'

Alexis kept her eyes on his body as Shane rolled on the condom, only letting them finally close when he took her hand and closed it around him to help guide inside She arched her hips up against his, setting the rhythm for them to love each other this morning, and when she felt the silk crest of the orgasm rise up side her, Alexis knew what it was to truly love her lover.

Spent and satisfied, Shane rested his head against her shoulder, felt her finger-comb his hair. 'Every time,' he mumbled against her skin.

'Every time?'

'We get better every time we do it.'

'Think of it as honeymoon practice.'

'Now those are words I like to hear.' Shane lifted his head, thumped his chin between her breasts. 'I was thinking about this a little bit about the ceremony. How would you feel about meeting my rabbi, doing a little crash course on what happens prior to the day of the rehearsal dinner or when we meet with him to talk about what we want in the ceremony.'

'I think that sounds like a good idea,' Alexis replied honestly. 'It'll be tricky, though for me to schedule the time-'

'Hey, I didn't mean like next week, we can do it this summer when you're on vacation,' he reassured her with a little laugh. 'Speaking of which, we _are_ still on vacation and I think I know what we are all doing today.'

'Oh?'

'Yep.'

'You think today's the day?'

'I do indeed.' Shane levered himself off of Alexis, dealt with the condom before going to their ensuite to take a leak. Discreetly, he shut the door behind him; it was a habit he'd learned to fix when he was first living with Alexis as one of her biggest pet peeves was people who had conversations while one was on the toilet. He waited until he was finished and had washed his hands before returning to the bedroom, only slightly disappointed when he saw Alexis had put on her swimsuit and was tugging her wetsuit out of her suitcase.

'Samn, I was hoping you'd do that naked,' he told her, tugging on his own swim trunks.

'Nope, not a chance.'

'Why?'

But Shane had his question answered for him when the door was nudged open and Andrea was there with Nessa in her arms, squirming around like a little jellyfish. 'There's your noisy aunt and uncle, Nessa, but don't go thinking you're getting a cousin from them any time soon.'

'Hi, sweet pea.' Alexis smiled at Nessa, and the baby kicked like a mule, accidentally nailing Andrea just above her groin; the new mom let out an 'oof' as the foot connected against her body.

'Sweetheart, I thought you were done kicking me in the junk now that you're no longer inside Mama,' she groaned good-naturedly. 'Eh, my little darling. You can go to Auntie Lexy for a moment since Mama has to pee now.'

Alexis held out her arms for little Nessa and wasn't surprised when the baby immediately reached out her chubby little hands to grab at Alexis' hair. 'Mumumum,' Nessa gurgled happily, tugging the auburn locks lightly. 'Mumumum.'

'I know, just like Mama's, right?'

Then her heart did a little hiccup when Nessa put her head on Alexis' shoulder and said in a sweet voice, 'Mumum.'

'Oh, honey.' She tried her best not to sniffle but it was to no avail and a few little tears escaped her eyes.

'Here, Nessa, you come sit over on our bed.' Shane plucked the baby from Alexis' arms and nestled her on the centre of the king-sized bed before wrapping his arms around Alexis. 'It's okay, Alexis, I've got you.'

'I...sometimes things still set me off like that,' she told him, shuddering as she fought for control. 'But it's mostly gone now.'

'Like right now or in general?'

'Both. Oh, goodness,' she sighed and swiped at her eyes just as Andrea emerged from the bathroom.

'Alexis, sweetie, what happened?'

Shane explained it and Andrea simply nodded patiently as she picked Nessa up from the bed. 'Shane, don't take this the wrong way, but bugger off with my husband. Go get the cooler ready for the boat.'

'What about my wetsuit?'

'We'll bring it down. This is a girl thing,' Andrea said firmly and Shane left, but not before giving Alexis' forehead a little smooch. When he was gone, Andrea gave her friend - her new little sister - a sympathetic look.

'Don't worry girl. You've still got a little bit of those post-partum hormones in your system.'

'Which might explain how I went so horny-devil on him last night,' Alexis mused, reflecting on how brave she'd been to wear no bra or panties under her dress for her date with Shane, 'and then so sniffly right now.'

'Or it could be that you are simply someone who likes hearing herself be called 'Mumum' by a little one,' Andrea pointed out. 'Not to knock your schooling but I've seen a lot of med students get a little bit hypochondriac. They've got bloody everything wrong with themselves.'

Alexis laughed. 'So basically you're telling me things happen and the best thing to do is just roll with it?'

'Basically. Right Nessa?'

'Mimimim.'

'She says, Auntie Lexy, stop worrying, you're gonna be the best mama ever when the time is right. Well, the second-best.' Andrea grinned, looked up at Alexis. 'How you think I'm doing so far with my engagement surprise?'

'I think you are awesome.'

'And just you wait, Nessa, when you are a little bit bigger, you'll get to come under the water with us too, just like we're doing today.'

'Sisisis?'

'Oh, you're right Nessa.' Alexis slapped her thighs dramatically. 'We better find Uncle Shane's wetsuit so he isn't skinny-scuba-diving with us, huh?'

* * *

><p>'See, I could see not wanting to have anything on a boat this size for the wedding, but what's wrong with a yacht?'<p>

Shane looked around at their fishing vessel and wondered if singing one of Quint's songs from _Jaws_ would be highly inappropriate, then looked back at Alexis, who'd tipped her sunglasses down at him.

'I'm giving you the rehearsal dinner on the cruise around the damn Statue of Liberty, Shane, don't push it,' she warned him with a smile. 'Or I'll cut you off.'

'Not all men are driven by sex, you know, we do have jobs that don't require us to hump like monkeys.'

'Oh, sweetie.' Alexis pursed her lips at him, batted her eyes in a picture of innocent sweetness. 'I didn't mean sex, that would be punishing me too when I did nothing to deserve it. I simply meant your cookie fund would be cut off.'

'You mean no pepernoten? For how long?'

'Until I decide you've been punished enough.' But Alexis winked at him as she said it, and Shane grinned, tickled Nessa's tummy as the baby looked around. 'Don't worry they'll be back soon enough.'

'Mumum. Sisisis.'

'I know, angel-cakes, I know. They looked pretty silly in all that gear, huh?'

'Bubub.' Nessa pointed to the gentle lapping waves. 'Bubub?'

'That right we blow bubbles in the water, and...oh look, look I think they're coming back!'

Beneath the crystal clear waters where their dive boat was anchored, Shane could see the two dark forms of humans coming towards the surface ten feet from the starboard gunwale. When they surfaced, Nessa clapped her hands and shouted, 'Bubub!'

'Hey, how's my little starfish?' Daniel called out, grinning at his little girl in her life-jacket. 'You see Mama and Daddy coming back?'

'Dididid.'

'Were your babysitters behaving themselves?' Andrea teased as Alexis began to outfit herself with the rented tanks. 'You made sure they weren't corrupting my baby girl?'

She climbed the ladder and gave Nessa a wet and salty kiss which made the baby splutter and giggle, then helped Alexis with her equipment; when they were done, she took Nessa from Shane while Daniel helped his bro with the same gear. A quick check of compressors and regulators and Alexis and Shane were doing the long-walk jump into the ocean, bobbing there for a moment and then heading under the water.

It was so soothing and thrilling at the same time, Shane thought, turning to look at Alexis and grin around his mouthpiece as they made their way towards the stone and coral form twenty-five from the boat's anchor. There was so much beauty here, and it could be deadly, yet it was silent and tranquil, exactly what they'd both yearned for in the last month.

Moving towards the northeast corner of the rock-form, Alexis darted down to the sandy bottom where she used her waterproof camera to snap pictures of colourful coral and fish and other sundry sea creatures when she spotted something peaking out of the edge of the sandy bottom. Gently fanning the sand away she lifted it up and saw it was a perfectly-shaped conch shell, pale yellow with green and brown flecks on the edges.

Shane caught up to her, saw what she'd found and motioned for her to give him the camera. He snapped the picture, knowing it would send RJ into a jealous frenzy when he saw it. Then, because he was feeling particularly romantic he picked up a piece of driftwood and scratched a message in the sand while Alexis babied her shell. He poked her in the arm, made the universal hand gesture for pictures and snapped the image. Once he was done, Alexis took the stick of driftwood from him and wrote beneath it, which Shane photographed as well.

_I love you Alexis_

_I love you Shane_


End file.
